The Song we Sing
by preoperative
Summary: -ALTERNATE REALITY- Harry is transported to another world, a world where things are very different from what he knows. But that's not all. The two ends don't match up. So what really happened to Harry? Between leaving and arriving. What's going on?
1. The Sunny Days

**Disclaimer:** I would like to say that I do not own the world of Harry Potter in any way, and hopefully I'm not breaching any ebil copywrite laws with this humble fic. It's not mine, and don't you people _ever _get tired of looking at these disclaimer things? Because I sure do.

* * *

**THIS IS IMPORTANT**: The Prophesy says that old Voldie gets to mark the person whom he wishes to fight, in this fic that's not true. Harry is the person no matter what ol' red-eyes did/does/will do. Thanx.

**Summary:**When Harry is forced into a dimension parallel to his own, apparently by accident, he discovers that his parents are alive and he has the family he has always wanted. But not all things are so rosy. Although it may not seem like it on the surface, the world he is in now is sinking fast, and like any catalyst, his arrival bodes that things are about to get a whole lot worse as the evil that has been creeping under the surface, makes itself known.

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**Chapter One** – The Sunny Days

* * *

It was not the way it _should_ have been, he decided, watching it carefully, along with the rest of the class.

He'd missed an ingredient, or perhaps stirred it to many times to the right after he'd put in the Scorpion hearts. Neville _had _called him when he was in the middle of pouring in the Dried Armadillo Skin, so perhaps his hand had tilted just a little too far…

Surveying the disgusting looking liquid he scrunched his nose up in distaste, not caring who saw him. There were a few snickers from around the room, but at large, silence reigned. He turned his gaze back to the Professor.

Who cared anyway? It was only potions.

Mind you… with a creep like Snape for a teacher… Maybe he _should_ be concerned…?

"You don't actually expect me to _drink_ that, or anything, do you?" his voice quite clearly portrayed his disbelief to the greasy haired man. Determined, and slightly amused, emerald eyes looked at Severus Snape as though he must be on crack.

His attitude did not seem to impress the teacher.

"You will test your own potion, Potter, just as I told you we would be doing at the beginning of the lesson!" Harry reached up a hand and pulled it through his hair, quite deliberately. He looked at the teacher incredulously.

Did the git actually expect him to have been _listening _to a word he said at the beginning of the lesson? Why was he a teacher? Had he _never _been a student?

"Do you really think I will? Well, think again, Snape. I refuse to poison myself for your amusement" Harry turned around quickly and made for the door, wondering at his own recklessness; had someone slipped something into his breakfast that morning?

Or was he simply getting sick and tired of all the shit he had put up with from Snape over the years?

Either way.

He didn't make the door in time.

"Mr Potter" he heard from behind him.

People had, over time, described Snape's voice as silky.

Harry, however, could only describe it as a One Way Portal to Hell.

"I do believe that I asked you to try this potion, which _you _have prepared. Now please, or I shall be forced to take four hundred points from Gryffindor for your _blatant_ lack of respect and _obvious_ impediment to follow _simple_ orders! Now please, Mr Potter!"

The Gryffindors in the class all shifted angrily, undecided on whom they should support: Four hundred points was a _hell_ of a lot of points… but the potion didn't look like such a good option either.

But for Harry… Desperation led to a quick decision.

Harry walked, somewhat reluctantly, towards the angry potions master.

He felt that somewhere inside him, there was a part of him struggling to tell him that even looking at the vile potion would spell his D-O-O-M. Harry _wanted_ to agree with it, and really, he _did_.

But then… there always was that Hero complex he'd picked up someplace.

When he was a foot from the potion, the Potions Master quite obviously picked up some boomslang skin, and chucked it into the potion with a careless swish of his hand.

Harry followed its progress with dread.

"Oops, how very… irresponsible of me… Well, Mr Potter? I _am_ waiting"

There was nothing for it, Harry thought with mental dread.

He swallowed the potion.

The last thing he saw before a cloud of green enveloped him, was Snape's surprised, but nonetheless pleased face.

Then the ceiling… and a field full of yellow sunflowers…

* * *

_Dear Diary, _

It was a Sunday.

The day that Harry Potter died.

He was four.

It was during the end of the Fall that it happened. All of the trees  
had lost their leaves, and everyone was sure that winter would be  
starting tomorrow, chilling winds were blowing and the temperature had  
sunken quickly.

He was wandering in the cold ground, searching for snow that hadn't  
yet fallen. He wandered onto the road and a car came hurling around  
the corner.

The driver tried to stop, but he was going too fast. Harry never  
stood a chance. I sometimes wonder what the driver must have felt as  
the car shifted a little, like it had hit a bump as it bulldozed my  
brother into the road.

My parents told me that the man went into counselling for two years  
after the incident, and that he has never driven again.

Good.

But we're living in the middle of a war. My  
sister and I live in England now, we have ever since my brother died,  
and right now there just happens to be an evil wizard trying to take  
over the world.

_Not that it's all that unusual._

_  
I've told you a lot about my brother, but nothing much about my sister  
or me. _

_At the moment I'm fourteen years old, but my birthday is in  
two days, so this year I'm going to be in my fifth year at Hogwarts.  
If my brother were alive he'd be a year older than me and in his  
sixth. _

My name is Cody Ryan Potter, and my twin sister is called Gypsy  
Adelaide Evans. we both love chocolate. Our best friends are Luna  
Lovegood and since last year Ginny Weasley as well. Ginny's brother  
is Ron Wealsley, a guy you seriously don't want to mess with, not to  
mention he's best friends with Neville Longbottom.

_Yes, that's right: THE Neville Longbottom_

_The boy-who-lived. _

The Neville Longbottom who defeated the evil lord Voldemort when he  
was only five years old, the Neville Longbottom who was meant to have  
saved the philosophers stone, defeated a basilisk, put a traitor back  
inside Azkaban, Got past the Triwizard tournament, escaped the  
reincarnated Voldemort and saved an ancient prophesy from the  
department of mysteries.

The only thing that Neville Longbottom ever did was escape from  
Voldemort, and perhaps even defeat him.

_Temporarily. _

_The rest of that stuff - he wouldn't know a thing about. The main reason for that  
is because he didn't do them. My sister and I did. _

Isn't it funny how it all works out? My sister, prank extraordinaire,  
and me, quiet bookworm, as well as Luna, intelligent and stimulative  
because of her crazy ideas and theories, it's us who should be praised  
for all of those things, and yet it's always Longbottom who ends up  
with the awards.

And can you believe it - we're going back to Canada for the rest of the  
holidays.

And that's all I'm going to write.

* * *

Gypsy was the first out of the fire to inspect the holiday lodge.

She had been eager to get there and visit the place she had lived in as a child. The house was medium sized and outside she could see the white world of winter. She smiled and sat down on her luggage, waiting for the rest of her family to arrive.

The next to come out of the fire was her father, he grinned at her and moved out of the way so Cody and her mom could come through. When they were all there with their bags and assorted pieces of furniture (Gypsy had tried to bring the kitchen sink as a joke, but Lily had magickd it back into the kitchen before they left) Lily clapped her hands together and looked at them all excitedly.

"As you know we're going to be staying here until the end of the holidays, so that means we've got three weeks to enjoy Canada and all she has to offer. So now, rules; no flying unless you have special permission from either myself or your father, be in bed by twelve every night. Any later and you'll be grounded inside the house for two weeks. I want you home for dinner every night otherwise same rules apply. And you have to have a great time! Why don't you two go on up stairs and choose your rooms, but no fighting!"

Gypsy didn't even hear her last words; she had already sped upstairs, eager to beat her brother.

Quickly claiming the room facing South she turned to her brother and poked out her tongue, but he only rolled his eyes good-naturedly at her.

"I didn't want this room anyway; I've got my old one. Mum and dad told me to tell you that they've gone back to our house to talk to Sirius and Remus, they won't be back until later. If you had have stayed you could have said goodbye" he told her, and she frowned, before cheering up and shrugging.

"Oh, I'll talk to them later. They'll be home for supper won't they?" she asked, and Cody nodded.

"Right then! Let's explore! I want to go sleighing?" Gypsy paused when she noticed Cody had left the room. His voice came drifting along from the corridor.

"I think I'll stay here. No slogging through snow for me. I don't like all the exercise stuff, as you know"

"But it's _snow _Cody! Lets go tobogganing!" She burst out into the corridor and followed Cody's voice as he answered her from another room. "What _are _you doing Cody?"

"I'm looking at the other spare room" he answered her as she came up abreast to him, standing outside a white door, obviously trying to get in.

"Is it locked?" he turned and gave her a scowl before replying.

"No shit, Sherlock" she grinned; her brother swearing was not a _particularly_ rare thing, but he certainly had some pretty funny phrases.

He caught her grin and his scowl turned into a glower as he moved aside, motioning for her to try and work her magic. She shrugged at the challenge and moved forward, but before she had reached the door there was a laud thump from inside.

They both froze in surprise and confusion.

"What the _hell_?" Gypsy asked quietly. Cody motioned for silence, apparently waiting for something else to happen. Nothing did; there was no more noise and the door _didn't_ suddenly burst into flames.

They traded confused looks.

"What _was_ that?" Cody asked just as quietly as his sister had, apparently feeling the need to whisper.

"A _thump_?" her voice was filled to the brim with sarcasm, although she was still whispering. He scowled at her again.

"Oh _well done _captain _obvious_" he muttered, and she poked out her tongue at him, screwing up her face in the process, which ended up making her look so ridiculous he had to fight the urge to start laughing. She gave him a quick grin and pointed to the door, before pointing to her wand. He shook his head, and made a cutting motion to his throat.

"Well… It's an emergency! We just heard an unidentifiable thump coming from a locked room in our house, which no one should know the location of. We were scared. We thought that it might be something dangerous and thought we could perhaps take it by surprise" Cody rolled his eyes to the heavens.

"There are some definite problems in your theory, but I won't point them all out becau – what are you _doing_!" he whispered furiously, dropping his voice.

Gypsy had stood up and was making her way towards the door. She already held her wand at the ready and was motioning for Cody to back her up.

He shook his head furiously.

Gypsy shrugged and pointed her wand at the door.

"Alohamora!" It clicked open, and Cody was forced to pull his wand up and stand, waiting for whatever was in the room to attack.

Nothing moved, and after a few seconds Gypsy lent forward and suddenly kicked the door in, her wand pointing to where she thought the culprit of the noise might be.

"Freeze!" she shouted.

After a few seconds of freezing while they waited for something to ignore the order, both Gypsy and Cody looked around the room in confusion.

There was nothing there apart from a collection of old baby things.

Again they traded glances.

"Wait, what's that Cody?" She moved forward, her wand pointed down at the thing. And suddenly, as she moved closer towards the thing, she saw what it was. She gasped and ran forward, her wand forgotten, Cody called after her, but she ignored him.

"My God, Cody he's hurt, we need to get him to a healer, like, _now_" She lifted the strangers head into her lap.

Cody came over quickly and took in the situation. He knelt down and picked up one of the boys lifeless hands, obviously trying to pull him up.

As he did so, he looked at the boys face… And noticed a lightning blot shaped scar on his forehead.

Cody gasped and recoiled slightly from the body, dropping both of his hands. The heavy sound of them hitting the carpeted floor made a sickening thump; similar to the one they had heard before.

"That's the noise we heard" Cody observed softly, recovering from his shock, watching the stranger quietly. Gypsy nodded frantically, turning to her brother.

"He's obviously got internal bleeding, judging by the _blood _pouring out of his mouth, which means some of his organs might be damaged. This is _bad_ by the way Cody! As well as that, he's got a few bruises, but I think that might be from when he landed, is that the right word? Anyway, they're probably from when he fell and landed on the floor" he grinned at her, obviously pleased with his sister's knowledge on the subject.

"Well for now let's assume you're right. Come one, lets get him down to the fireplace, we can take him to St. Mungos and firecall dad from there, I'm sure that they'll let us" Cody suggested, pointing towards the door as he picked up the bays arms again. Gypsy nodded, adding her approval to the plan of action.

"Yeah, okay. He needs medical attention as soon as possible. Come on, levitate him, I don't know any other spells that'll work. We'd better hurry" Cody nodded and raised his wand casting the charm quickly, before floating the boy down to the fireplace. He turned to Gypsy.

"I'll go through with him first, you can come after, wait a few secs so I can get him out of the way then come through. Ok, I'm going now" he picked up a handful of floo, and dumped some in his pocket, before throwing the rest into the flames and shouting for St. Mungo's emergency ward.

As soon as he arrived, two nurses rushed forward to help him up.

By the time he had recovered his spinning head, one of the nurses had already taken the dark haired boy away. He blinked in surprise, but supposed it _was_ an emergency ward. The fire behind him flashed blue and he quickly stood back, seeing the doctors rushing forward he shook his head.

"It's just my sister" they nodded in recognition and stepped backward, waiting for the next floo emergency.

Gypsy came out, dark hair streaming behind her with electric blue streaks somewhat less visible with all the sooty grime in her hair. He grinned and tousled it for her. She glared at him, before patting her hair back down and looking around curiously.

"Where'd the kid go?" she asked.

Cody grinned, suddenly feeling very reassured and relieved now that the emergency was over. His sister grinned back at him before they both burst into spontaneous giggles.

"They took him away as soon as I arrived; I guess that it's good I ended up calling for the emergency ward, I bet it wouldn't have been so easy if we went to the normal one" she nodded, agreeing with him.

"You gave me a bit of a surprise when you said the emergency ward, I'm glad I heard you else I would be standing with no idea in the entrance going 'now where'd he say...?'" she smiled at him, punching his arm lightly in slight annoyance "Typical you!"

"Typical me" they laughed again, before simultaneously shushing each other as a nurse made his way over, obviously carrying news.

But before the nurse could even open his mouth to tell them the news, Gypsy had butted in.

"We're awfully sorry about this sir, but when we found him in our house we were so surprised and he looked in pretty bad condition so we thought that we should get him to a doctor, I mean, a healer, as soon as possible. We weren't sure wether or not we should bring him to the emergency ward or not, but seeing as how our mother works here we thought we should even though we didn't know if he was critical so – " the nurse held up his hands as she took a big breathe seemingly ready to continue. Cody took no chances and simply covered her mouth with his hands.

"Sorry about that" he said to the nurse pleasantly, ignoring his struggling sister "please go on"

"Well I have to say it's a good thing you _did_ bring him here and not to the normal ward, he certainly classifies as critical. A muggle phrase?" Gypsy nodded, shaking off her brothers hands, the nurse smiled at the glaring teenager before continuing.

"But we're going to need some details about the patient and yourselves. Do your parents know you're here?" he asked the routine question and paused when the two shook there heads.

"It was an _emergency_" Gypsy said stressing the last word, just to make sure the man understood; the nurse nodded wryly.

"Yes, I think I know that better than you. But before we can continue I need you to contact them. You can use the floo over there" the nurse pointed towards several fireplaces tucked away in a corner that were public fireplaces. Gypsy nodded, but pulled out her cellphone.

"Reckon we can call them?" she grinned at him easily as he pushed her hand down with a roll of the eyes.

"Get a life Gyp. Now, moving on from that idiotic question. Sir, do you think we could borrow some powder, I've only got some of the travelling stuff, so I can't really call them" the nurse nodded and pointed to a desk on one side of the room. Cody thanked him and walked over before going over to the fires labelled as 'communication'.

He threw the powder into the flames before sticking his head in and asking for Godric's Hollow.

His view of fire cleared, and he was suddenly looking at the living room of his home. Seeing that his parents wheren't in the living room, he paused to see if he could hear them chatting in the kitchen. He called out loudly, and was rewarded as Sirius stuck his head out.

Cody groaned in mock terror as Sirius's face morphed into an angelic look.

"No! I didn't want you! Stay away! Mom! Dad! Help me!" his parents wandered out bemusedly, watching as their son laughed with his godfather. Sirius grinned and sat down, while his parents stood, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"What's up kid? I assume you didn't come here just to see _my_ gorgeous face" Sirius's preened. But his smile was infectious and soon Cody was chuckling slightly. In a few moments he sobered and looked at his parents.

"Bad news down this end I'm afraid" as his serious tone his parents came forward, obviously waiting to see what the problem was. Sirius also stopped his erratic giggles in favour of listening to the convocation.

Cody looked at his parents before glancing away; he had his suspicions about whom, or _what_, had been in his brother's old room. He gulped.

"At the moment Gypsy and me aren't at home – " before he could get any further, Remus, who had come in after his parents stopped him, asking the obvious question.

"Where are you then?" he asked, concern creasing his face. Cody looked down, studying the tiles on the floor that paved the fireplace.

"Well, we're kinda at St.Mungosemergencyward" he coughed, and looked down, waiting for them to figure out what he had said.

After a few seconds, they did.

"WHAT! WHY?" he couldn't help but give a small laugh which he quickly turned into a cough at the look on his parents and godfathers face.

"Heh, just thought I should let you know" Cody said nervously and then he vanished with a load pop from the fireplace, leaving James, Lily, Sirius and Remus to stare at the empty fire.

After a pause where all four adults seemed to actually be thinking, Sirius grinned and turned to James.

"I didn't know Cody was a prankster Jamsie, why didn't you ever tell me?" James, however, was frowning and Lily looked downright terrified. Sirius slid his gaze to Remus who also looked somewhat confused.

"He's _not_ Sirius. The only time Cody came across the word 'prank' was when he was reading the shorter oxford dictionary. Now come _on_ we need to get to the emergency ward" Sirius nodded quickly, seeing that James was perfectly serious. He walked forward and grabbed the powder, threw it into the fire and stepped into it a second later.

As soon as Sirius arrived Cody, who had obviously been standing by, helped him up with a wry grin that clearly said 'knew you'd be coming'.

Sirius grinned in return and turned to quickly look for Gypsy, who was sitting in a chair near them. He sighed in relief when he saw that neither of the twins were hurt, and gave Cody a quick hug before trundling over to his sister and leaving Cody to receive his irate father.

Cody scowled and motioned for Gypsy

"Oi! Gyp! Your turn, I told you I'd take the first one, and you could have the second!" His sister pouted at him but came over all the same. Just as she arrived their father stepped out of the flames and pulled them into one of the tightest hug they'd ever had.

"Air... is... becoming... a... problem" they both choked out at the same time. James, over their shoulders, grinned at the arched eyebrow Sirius had adopted. Before letting go of the twins and glaring at the two.

"Don't you ever do that again! You scared me senseless! Not to mention your mother! She almost fainted!" Cody grimaced and looked down, Gypsy however looked confused.

"He didn't tell you anything?" James shook his head mutely and they both turned to Cody. His son was examining the floor with renewed interest.

He gulped again as his father's inquisitive look landed on him. However, before Cody could say anything, Lily and Remus arrived simultaneously, and as soon as they appeared the nurse turned up and started leading them to one of the private rooms.

"We've stabilised him, but he's still not going to get out of this totally unharmed. We're guessing he consumed a potion of some sort because his internal organs have taken quite a beating, and that can only usually happen with specific potions, we're not sure which yet. It can't be a spell, or at least not any we recognise. The bruises have nothing to do with his internal condition, so we're assuming that he might have fallen, we still need to get your details but we thought you might want to see him, he's just woken up" and before any of them could protest, the nurse had shoved them all through a door and closed it behind them.

They all stood there; the four adults and two children looking at the teenager on the bed.

The teenager looked up as they walked in and frowned as soon as he saw them. He opened his mouth, and when he spoke, it was in a quite and controlled tone, although they could all hear the anger beneath it.

"Who _are _you? Where am _I?_" they looked at each other in confusion, but did not reply so the boy continued "How did I get here? The last thing I remember… I can't remember! Who are you? Am I… a prisinor? I don't know anything! Where am I? How did I leave… wherever I was…?" the kids green eyes glittered with confusion, but he continued to glare at them accusingly.

Gypsy was squinting at him then turned suddenly to Cody eyes wide and surprised. Cody nodded, confirming his own suspicions as much as hers. The green-eyed boy watched this warily.

"You're Deatheaters, aren't you? God you're so young! Still" he said thoughtfully "they tried to recruit me at age eleven, maybe there is no 'too young' in your books" he turned away from them and looked down to the other side of the bed, apparently deciding that if he really _had _fallen into the unsavoury clutches of Voldemort's supporters, silence was the best option.

Gypsy suddenly strode forward, Cody a step behind her.

"Take that back! I wouldn't join those stinking excuses for humans ever! Even if it killed me!" she raged at him. The kid turned to look at her slowly, his eyes seemed to bore holes into her mind and she felt as if he was looking into her very soul.

Finally he looked down and away

"Perhaps it will kill you" his voice was bitter, but he no longer looked like he wanted to murder her. He flicked his restless eyes towards the cult of adults who were all staring at him, before returning his gaze to Gypsy.

"No, perhaps you aren't a deatheater after all. But in that case, who are you? Why am I here? How did I get here? Who are they? Why do they look like people I used to know who died when I was young? Questions, questions" he looked up at her suddenly "Why should I believe you, Gypsy?" she took a step backwards at his intense tone and he grinned at her reaction.

"Nah, I'm just fooling with you. You seem like a decent enough kid"" he gave her a lop-sided smile and flicked his eyes over to the grown-ups, answering her un-asked question.

"Maybe next time you find an unconscious stranger you should check to see if he's actually unconscious" his impish grin made her smile and blush slightly, but then she frowned, thinking of something.

"But then you knew I wasn't a deatheater without having to…" she paused, not knowing what he _had _done "…whatever you did" she finished, somewhat lamely.

The boy nodded.

"But I didn't know if _they_ were. Their reactions were enough to know that they aren't. But _they_ think _I_ am. Isn't that ironic?" He looked down, suddenly tired.

"What's your last name?" he asked.

Cody came forward and took the teens hand in his own. He shook.

"Potter. Cody" he pointed at himself, and then at his sister "Gypsy Potter. But the real question should be why you're here, and how it happened?" Cody reached forward and rearranged the kids fringe before sat down, his sister quickly followed.

They had both picked up on what his action meant.

"Snape" the teenager said mockingly "Greasy bastard that he is made me drink some potion that Neville Longbottom made in class. Ai Gods! I think he was trying to kill me! Wouldn't be the first time, that's for sure!" he sighed and glared moodily at the wall. Everybody else in the room traded looks, even the adults were included in the raising of eyebrows.

"Neville, huh? I thought he was good at potions" Harry, who had started to take a sip of water from one of the glasses started to cough like mad, and looked like he was about to choke to death. Finally he stopped, breathing heavily and looking at Cody with such wide eyes the boy found himself slightly alarmed.

"You what?" Gypsy smirked at the look on both her brothers and the 'strangers' face.

"That bad huh? Well, he did come second top in the year last year in potions. Didn't he Cody?" Cody nodded, seeing the humour as Harry looked like he was going to faint.

"Haha, funny. Now lets be serious. Neville Longbottom, we are talking about Neville Longbottom here, aren't we? Damnit, this is even worse than I thought!" Both Cody and Gypsy were laughing at the look of incredulity on the teenagers face.

"So, have we figured out when Neville was kidnapped and who the intruder is yet?" he said with a grin, which only made Cody and Gypsy laugh harder. After a few moments they fell silent, the confused looks their parents were shooting them weighing the mood down.

"We haven't even been properly introduced yet. Ok, You start" Gypsy nodded and stood up, dramatic as always.

"My name is Gypsy Adelaide Evans. I took my mothers name so that my twin brother and I could be more independent from each other, and not necessarily be associated in everything we do. I am fourteen years old and my birthday is August the 9th. I have black hair with blue streaks and my eyes are Hazel, from my dad"

"My name is Cody Ryan Potter. I took my fathers name 'cose Gypsy insisted, and because he's my father. I am fourteen years old and my birthday is August the 9th. I have black hair which is always messy and my eyes are blue, from my grandma. I enjoy reading and have been made prefect for the upcoming year at Hogwarts. I am a Gryffindor"

"I'm a Gryffindor too, just forgot to mention that, now, it's your turn"

"My name is Harry James Potter. I was born on the 31st of July in 1980 and the next year on Halloween I went to live with my aunt and uncle. I am sixteen. I have black hair which I'm growing, and my eyes are green; the colour of my mothers. I was not made a prefect but I am in Gryffindor. And like I said; my name is Harry James Potter. Hello" Gypsy and Cody both smiled at him

"Hullo Harry James Potter"

* * *

**Edit 25.1.06: **decided to fix up a lot of grammar/spelling mistakes, but that doesn't mean there won't be any left in here, sorry if there is. Hope this is better than the one it's replacing (it would be kinda bad if it was worse! D:) Slightly changed a few reactions, hope it fits in with the next chapter! I plan on re-writing/editing them all, so eventually it'll make more sense! ;P

* * *

**A/N**: Ok. THIS WILL NOT BE A SLASH FIC. Just thought i'd get that over and done with.

Questions will be answered, if there are any, so please feel free to ask as many as you want, a review for each if you feel like it!

Please review, I can't go on without reviews. I feel that writing my fics is pointless, and I therefore stop.

R**E**V**I**E**W**

Thanx

Pre..'-'..


	2. Two Guesses

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters end of story. Moving on...  
  
**THIS IS IMPORTANT:** The Prophesy says that old Voldie gets to mark the person whom he wishes to fight, in this fic that's not true. Harry is the person no matter what ol' red-eyes did/does/wil do. Thanx.  
  
**Summary:** Things have suddenly gone from bad to worse. And Harry, as usual, is stuck in the middle of it. Normally when he wakes up, it's to a pretty bare room at the Dursley's. Not where he is now. TRAVEL with Harry through a world filled with fear and darkness, not to mention an author out to kill him. As many times as she possible can.  
  
**Chapter Two** – Two Guesses  
  
Surprised faces looked at him, each one the exact mirror of the one next to it; jaws hanging slightly open, eyes widened so much that they were mainly white, hands each fingering wands as if they didn't even realise they were doing it, skin tone paler than usual and a few of them even had tears in their eyes (Lily mainly, but a few of the guys were a bit misty eyed as well). Harry turned to him two ginning siblings.  
  
"Is that normal?" Gypsy giggled at the question and shook her head, covering her mouth with her hand as she did so.  
  
"Did I ever tell you I was a seer?" Cody turned to his brother, curiosity quickly coming to the surface.  
  
"No, but are you? It must be a pretty amazing talent" he grinned, thinking that his brother had all but confirmed his new 'power', next to him, Harry was again eyeing the parents.  
  
"That's because I'm not one" Cody sighed here and gave Harry an exasperated look "But I don't need to be to know the next thing they're going to do is curse me to the seventh hell and back!" Gypsy, who had heard this last comment, grinned again and nodded.  
  
"Any idea of what you're going to do when the shock wears off?"  
  
"It sure is taking a while, I'd say you don't have much time left" Both Cody and Gypsy had mischievous grins on their faces as they questioned Harry. Harry shot a quick look to the adults; they were coming round.  
  
"I was thinking if I can't see them they can't see me... shit!" and he dove under the covers of the bedspread while Cody and Gypsy burst into laughter at his (totally demented) reasoning.  
  
"He's even worse than you Gypsy!" Gypsy immediately looked offended.  
  
"You don't mean that Cody" her brother (the youngest one) turned to her slowly and looked at her, and for a second it seemed he wouldn't say anything, before the glint in his sisters eyes elicited an answer.  
  
"You're right. I don't mean that bu – " he was cut off as a distraught Lily Potter rushed over to him and literally dragging him away from Harry's bed. Harry, who was lying very still under the covers, whimpered as their talking was cut off, correctly guessing what was happening. They both giggled at his expense. James was walking around the bed and looking at it as if it contained his worst nightmare, and for now we'll just pretend that it didn't.  
  
"Get the kids over here Lils, we'll make sure nothing happens to them" Lily nodded her thanks and quickly brought out her wand, pointing it at the lump in the bed, before looking quickly over to James.  
  
The lump quivered.  
  
Gypsy and Cody tried to stifle their giggles.  
  
Sirius and Remus looked at them suspiciously.  
  
James and Lily moved closer to the bed.  
  
Gypsy and Cody finally started laughing.  
  
Sirius and Remus looked at each other suspiciously.  
  
The lump quivered.  
  
Gypsy and Cody literally fell to the floor in laughter.  
  
Sirius and Remus both decided to ignore them and turned their eyes towards James and Lily.  
  
The twins broke free of their grasp as soon as the two adults decided that they of them must have been hit with a cheering charm, just as James and Lily shot highly dangerous, bot not quite illegal, curses at Harry. The twins, Remus and Sirius hot on their tails, managed to only just knock the spells of course so they ended up slaming into the bed Harry was on.  
  
Harry, for his part jumped up from the smouldering ruin that had once been a bed and swore like a trouper.  
  
Everyone looked at him mildly impressed.  
  
And this is the end of the silent movie.  
  
"WHAT IN MERLINS NAME IS GOING ON IN HERE?!!"

* * *

It was two hours and seventy six minutes later (Which I suppose could be interpreted as three hours and sixteen minutes) that found Harry gagged and bound sitting in a plush chair in front of the Headmaster of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry blinking in surprise.  
  
"How did that happen?" If Cody and Gypsy had been there they likely would have been laughing their heads off.  
  
There was no answer to his question and he sighed, his eyes roaming around the office randomly, waiting for the Headmaster, his 'parent's' or either Remus or Sirius to ask/shout/scream something. He tried to yawn, but the gag in his mouth, only made him want to gag (A/N: OMG! Really?).  
  
"Well this is fun. But I'm a bit tired, I think I'd rather leave the party early tonight" he managed to prop his feet up on Albus's desk before the unbalanceness(that word doesn't, strictly speaking, exist) of the action had him toppling backwards. He lay on the floor looking at the ceiling for a while.  
  
"Bugger. That didn't work did it?" no one made amove before the Headmaster finally rose his wand and pointed it at Harry, setting him upright again. Harry sent a cheeky grin over to the Gryffindor and looked around again.  
  
"This gag isn't working you know. I can still speak. I thought the idea of stuffing something in someone's mouth was one supposed to shut them up. Therefore, the gag you have placed in my mouth is not working" he tried to grin, but the gag at least constricted that attempt at sweet and innocent.  
  
"So could you take it off?" he didn't expect them to, and was not at all surprised when they all shook their heads no at the same time.  
  
"Typical. Sooo... Why am I being tied up to a chair in Dumbledore's office? Shouldn't I be free and playing with butterfly's somewhere in Brazil? Does anyone here know where Brazil is? Because I don't and it's been annoying me for a while now, it's just something I can't stop thinking about. Where the fuck is Brazil?" Sirius, for his part, was finding it hard to remember that the man/boy/girl(?) In front of him was a deatheater.  
  
"It's in Africa" The impostor turned to him with a big smile and nodded his thanks, almost overbalancing again.  
  
"I'll have to remember that. Thanks for the tip. So Sirius Black, anything interesting been happening in your life? Any girlfriends, boyfriends, married? Having an affair with your secretary? Do you have any pets? I bet you have a dog. You soo have a dog. What breed is it? I myself have always liked big dogs; small ones have the short end of the stick. Think about it. They're small, for one, so therefore are bullied. They have small brains, and that's bad in anyone. They have small lives, and that could be considered bad for them but good for you if you were the vicious sort of person I bet you aren't. But – " Dumbledore cut the rambling teen off.  
  
"He has a German Shepard by the name of Dingo" Harry nodded.  
  
"I knew it" but then suddenly, a thought occurred to him and he sat up straighter, managing somehow not to overbalance. He turned his head towards the headmaster, green eyes wide with emotion.  
  
"Is Pettigrew here? Tell me he's here and I'll rip every limb from his body, slowly and painfully, then I'll cast the crucius on him so he just doesn't loose his sanity. Then I'll find a nice pair of butchering knives and I'll carve nice patterns into him. After I've done that I think I'll get a nice muggle flamethrower and – " Dumbledore coughed and Harry stopped sheepishly.  
  
"Haha. Just kidding. I'm not an evil deatheater if that's what you think I am. I just really, _really_, _REALLY_ hate Peter. Haha" the adults were looking at him with varying degrees of fear/hate/confusion/pity. He groaned as he saw the different looks.  
  
"Now look here. I seriously dislike him. It's not like I'd actually do anything like that to him" he very obviously crossed his fingers in front of them "but he did something I'm not to happy about, in fact, a few things I'm not happy about. But we can cover that later. Is he here?" he smiled at them charmingly, crossed fingers still in clear view. It was Dumbledore who answered.  
  
"Peter Pettigrew died almost fifteen years ago tracking down the traitor who betrayed the Longbottoms" Harry frowned, thinking, before suddenly the words sunk in.  
  
"He did fucking WHAT?" Dumbledore nodded sadly, ignoring Harry's language.  
  
"Yes, the biggest part we ever found of him was his finger. He was awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class. A very kind man who lost his life fighting evil" once Harry heard the end of this he started spluttering so much he fell over again he was coughing so hard.  
  
"The slimy little rat! He's here isn't he? Bastard. I swear I'm going to kill him! I am! I a – wait a second. Did you say... the Longbottoms?" Dumbledore nodded, watching the strange boy who seemed to be thinking.  
  
"Oh god this is messed up. Who was it that Pettigrew caught?"  
  
"Why it was Nymphadora Tonks of course" At this Harry let out a sharp gasp of breathe, muttering things under his breathe "What was that child?" Harry rose his voice accordingly.  
  
"This is so messed up. So, so, sooo messed up! Oh god! Why am I here? Why did it have to be here? Couldn't you have shoved me into a dimension that had some semblance of my own one? Please? Can I just swap now and forget the rest of this shit? I don't even know if the people who are innocent in my own universe are innocent here. Damit!" unfortunately he was talking in Hebrew, so none of them understood a word he was saying. Suddenly his head snapped up as he had a sudden thought.  
  
"What did Peter say before Tonks... killed him?" Dumbledore answered accordingly.  
  
"I believe his exact words were; 'Nymphadora, Alice and Frank, how could you?'" Harry nodded, muttering obscenities under his breathe.  
  
"And none of you see anything wrong with that sentence?" they all looked at him in confusion "I'll take that as a 'no' then" he turned and seemed to be considering the floor again.  
  
"Oh bugger this is screwed" Dumbledore could only nod his agreement, much to the surprise of the rest of the adults sitting in the room.  
  
"Now, could we ask you a few questions, seeing as how you have questioned us and we have answered" Harry seemed to consider, but then nodded.  
  
"Only so long as you agree I'll only answer as many as you answered me" Again Albus nodded his agreement to the plan.  
  
"So we shall ask you eight questions, all of which you shall answer truthfully, under a strong truth potion. And then we shall decide what to do from there" Harry was looking at the Headmaster with a grin.  
  
"I didn't say anything about the V stuff" Albus returned the smile with one of his own.  
  
"Ahh, but I did" Harry seemed to consider arguing, but thought better of it and finally nodded, turning his eyes towards the bowl of candy that was on the Headmaster's desk.  
  
"How many?" He was inspecting the different sweets so he didn't see the confused looks on the other adult's faces nor the slight flash of surprise and then amusement that flew across Dumbledore's face.  
  
"Four Strawberry drops if you will" Harry grabbed out and took five with a grin, his restrainers having been taken off. He noticed Sirius raising an eyebrow.  
  
"What? They taste nice! Even though they are laced with the V stuff, doesn't make 'em any less nice!" he turned to Dumbledore "eight questions. That is all. Anymore and you are in trouble" the old man nodded and watched as the green eyed boy popped four of the five into his mouth and chewed them before swallowing and then quickly shoving the fifth in and sucking on it.  
  
"Do you agree with, or support Voldemort in any way?" The answer was slow in coming.  
  
"Yes. I do" before he could get any further he was leapt at by an angry red-head with burning green eyes. Dumbledore simply rose his wand and Lily was suspended in mid-air trying to claw her way over to Harry. The raven haired child continued.  
  
"I agree with him on the fact that it is your fault, professor that he is the way he is now. I agree with him that you can make mistakes and have made many. I believe that it was a mistake of Dippet to send him to the muggle orphanage and that he should have been informed of his heritage before he discovered it, on his own, by himself, alone. I agree with him that at least some muggles should be thrown into hell. I agree with him that you are an old manipulative man. I agree with him that you do not have the power to banish him completely, and I agree with him in fearing me. If I were him I'd be scared shitless.  
  
"I agree with him that I should not have been raised by muggles. I agree with him that my mother was a powerful witch and I agree with him that it is only because of me that the war so far has had the light side winning the battles. I agree with him that he should try to make me join him if he wants to win the war. I agree with that if I were him, and he called _me_ Tommy-Boy-Baby every time he saw me (which is a lot) I would be seriously pissed off. I agree with him that the ministry should be torn into a pile of rubble. I agree with him that not all parslemouth's are dangerous. I agree with him that all spells, dark or not should be made legal in some situations. I agree with him in his hatred of Snivellus. And that's all I can think of right now, but come back later and I might just have some more things"  
  
"Do you fight for either the light or the dark?" a dreamy smile came over the drugged questionee.  
  
"Once I fought for the light side. But I didn't like the way they kept on manipulating me, so I stopped fighting for them. Well, I wasn't really fighting, just sympathising, so my sympathising left them. And I became my own person, I didn't fight for anyone, and wouldn't. Light or Dark" there was a slight pause "I fought for what was right. Not the light or the dark. I fought for justice. And I fought all potion masters of the world, including Snape, slimy bastard that he is. It is because of him that I'm here you know? Oh how I hate him. It was the boomslang skin that did it, I'm sure" he sighed, trailing off, having answered the question.  
  
"Will you fight for us?"  
  
"I don't know yet. You seem to be ok, but then again, so did everyone else I've given my alliance to. I'm going to wait and see how things go for a while, but the chances are; yes. I probably will if you don't screw up too much by stopping me doing things you may think are wrong but I now are right. But probably, yeah"  
  
"What other things?"  
  
"There are only two so far, but I'm sure there will be more. The first is to get Pettigrew, check if he really is dead, because last time I had an experience with the bastard was when he almost cut my arm off, and I owe him for that at least. But there are other things I need to... talk" the word was used delicately, and with something in the emotionless voice that made the other in the room sure they didn't want to know what that meant "with him about. Second, depends greatly on no. 1. If there are any surprised it may not come to past, but if it al goes as I think it will then my second port of call will be Azkaban to get Tonks out of there as soon as poss. I wouldn't be surprised if she's lost her mind"  
  
Dumbledore had an unfathomable look on his old face as he considered the answer to his question before asking the next one.  
  
"Why are you here?" compared to all of the other answers they had received this one was short and to the point.  
  
"I am here to save to world and your sorry arses, not to mention my brother and sisters and everyone else in the masochistic reality" Dumbledore rose a silvery eyebrow.  
  
"And who might your sister and brother be?"  
  
"Why Cody and Gypsy of course, and Charlotte, but she isn't here yet" Dumbledore snuck a look at the dumbstruck Lily and James. James was looking confused, but Lily was cradling her belly as if it contained something precious. He blinked in surprise.  
  
"What are you planning to do after you have settled your 'other things'?"  
  
"I plan on going back to school of course, and becoming friends with my old friends, but apart from that I'm susceptible to persuasion" Dumbledore nodded, obviously pleased by the answer.  
  
"Is your name really Harry James Potter?" There was a slight pause as the boy seemed to think for a second before finding the answer.  
  
"No. My name is not Harry James Potter."

* * *

**A/N:** Bit of a cliffie? I hope so! I was gonna write more but this was so the perfect placet to stop and I just couldn't resist! So who is this mysterious person? Well, goes by the name... Harry?  
  
Sorry, just a mini twist, nothing that'll change the world.  
  
Ciao!  
  
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	3. Confusion, The

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Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters apart from a very select few, but they are _so_ the best ones anyway.

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**Chapter three – **Confusion, The 

Silence.

Utter silence.

A few seconds ago Albus Dumbledore had been completely convinced in the man before him, and his sincerity, but the last answer to the last question had sent him reeling. The boy had clearly stated that they were only allowed eight questions, and Dumbledore had agreed. He had promised that he would, and he was not about to break that promise.

Sirius Black however, had no qualms about it, and so, was about to break the promise.

"Then who are you?" the handsome man was standing over the raven haired teenager and seeming oblivious to the frantic headmaster trying to push him out of the way.

As a last desperate attempt to stop Sirius from forcing him to break his promise, Dumbledore simultaneously cast a silencing spell, a binding spell and a summoning spell. The silencing spell shut whatever Harry was saying up, the binding spell had Sirius on the floor and the summoning charm made the bottle of veristinium appear in his hand.

Luckily no one in the room could lip read.

He quickly administered the antidote to the young man before him, waiting a second for the potion to take effect. All in all, he didn't have to wait long because after a few seconds of waiting the raven haired teenager started to laugh and laugh and laugh.

"You ever were one for dramatics weren't you Professor Dumbledore? If I didn't know you better I almost wouldn't have been so certain your very last question would be one that would confirm everything. But it seems that in all the universes, Albus Wulfric Percival Brian Dumbledore is a constant" green eyes sparkled as they looked at the headmaster condescendingly.

"I believe that that was the eight questions permitted?" he looked at Albus for confirmation. Albus nodded.

"Indeed. I do hope you come and visit us soon! Do send a post card and give us a ring if you find a telephone! Goodbye" And Albus propelled Harry out of the office and slammed the door just in the startled boy's face.

"What was that?" he muttered to himself softly, glancing behind at the closed door. (A/N: a bored author who just decided this chapter was pissing her off and decided to randomly end it. Nah, really, it actually is)

* * *

"What was that Albus?" the headmaster looked over to his oldest (and still living) friend and smiled a secretive sort of smile, blue eyes twinkling brightly behind his half moon spectacles in a way that would never be changed. 

"Just a little test Minerva, no fear" no one in the room looked remotely satisfied by this answer. Until the door blew open and Harry Potter stood scowling in the doorway. He sent a scowl at Dumbledore, and no one but the old headmaster saw the laughter in the young man's eyes.

"Marks?" Dumbledore smiled at the child.

"Full. Of course. I didn't expect anything else... Mr Potter" Harry nodded and slowly lowered himself onto the chair he had previously occupied.

"Why thankyou sir. I am flattered"

"Quite alright Harry, quite alright" green eyes twinkled in a way reminiscent of a certain headmaster before they turned to the other confused occupants of the room.

They looked at him with varying amounts of suspicion.

He grinned and raised his left hand before waving at them.

They looked at him oddly.

Had he been in their position _he _would have looked at himself oddly. But he wasn't in their position, they were in their position, and they didn't know who he was.

His mind was getting sidetracked.

Just a bit.

He stopped waving.

"Um... hi?"

Dumbledore coughed, but everyone in the room knew that he was trying not to laugh at the stalemate they and Harry had somehow created. Harry sheepishly lowered his hand and looked around the room as if he was a small kid, avoiding the eyes of the adults. None of them had missed the sudden mood change in the teenager.

"Now then, I do believe that introduction's are in order. Harry, I would like to introduced you to Sirius Black, he is an acclaimed auror and one of the best friends of one James Potter. James Potter, who is also an auror and married to the wonderful Lily Potter. Lily Potter, who is a part of the Obliviation unit at the ministry and also mother to Gypsy and Cody Potter. Cody Potter, although not currently here, fourteen years of age, twin to Gypsy. Gypsy, although not currently here, fourteen years old, god daughter to Remus Lupin. Remus Lupin, werewolf and best friend to Sirius and James Potter. Whom you know. Everyone, I would like to introduce Harry Potter to you" there was silence from everyone in the room, apart from Harry, who was gazing at Fawkes in apparent amusement.

Dumbledore noticed this and motioned towards the phoenix.

"And of course, Fawkes the phoenix, my faithful friend and companion who has been with me for as long as I can remember" he paused and looked at Harry for confirmation, the young wizard gave it "in whatever dimension I happen to wander into" at this Harry smiled. It was not a happy smile.

"I don't think that you'll quite get the chance headmaster, things might get a little, _hot _in this universe by the time I'm done with it" his emerald eyes suddenly began to shine as the teenager fought back laughter.

Everyone else was looking at him oddly.

"That was sarcasm"

They continued to look at him oddly.

"Aww! Leave me along! What'd I ever do to you?!"

Odd looks didn't leave.

Harry laughed.

* * *

Gypsy was pacing. Her long legs carried her back and forth from one side of the room to the other, again and again. Her black hair was trailing behind her as she made a sharp turn and followed the route she had been taking for the last twenty minutes. Sitting down near her, Cody sighed. 

"Gyp. Stop pacing, sit down and shut up!" the muttering that had been coming from Gypsy stopped as she turned to glare at her brother. He looked back at her blankly before she suddenly blew up.

"HOW CAN YOU STAND IT!?"

* * *

**MEANWHILE IN A PLACE FAR, FAR AWAY, THINGS ARE NOT GOING SO WELL...**

Severus Snape was in trouble.

Big trouble.

It was not a matter of, 'oh, Severus, that was silly, you shouldn't have done that', no. This was a matter that had somehow managed to get Albus Dumbledore, one of the most renowned wizards on the globe for keeping his temper, to try and murder Snape the second said headmaster set eyes on before mentioned potions master.

In retrospect, it had been surprisingly easy for Snape to anger the headmaster to homicidal intent.

Far too easy.

He hadn't planned on angering the man, but he had somehow managed to, and was still regretting the consequences.

He squirmed.

It was unfair, really. He hadn't planned what had happened, and it certainly hadn't occurred to him that in the course of three seconds, one Harry Potter could disappear so completely and effectively from his classroom.

"Oh friggin bloody hell! Why did I do it?" he was, of course, referring to the boomslang skin.

It was one of the most basic ingredients in _any_ potion, and compatible with almost anything even though it _was _rare. Severus was not quite sure what had happened, but Albus had made it quite clear that very soon he would be finding out.

The headmaster had been very explicit, for once. There had been no riddles, and no hidden messages.

Severus was going to fix it.

Or else.

* * *

"I'll speak to Severus then" at this Harry visibly winced and looked at the headmaster as if he had suddenly sprouted an umbrella from his back. 

"Maybe that would be a bad idea" Dumbledore's eyes didn't narrow in the slightest, if anything, the twinkling increased. He frowned, a very obviously _fake _frown that had Harry subconsciously grinding his teeth in annoyance, and seemed to consider Harry's objection.

"But Mr Potter, why ever not?"

"Yes. That's right you pinged it in one. Mr Potter" Harry said as he scowled, green eyes glittering in annoyance.

"Mr Potter? Whatever do you mean?"

"I'm a Potter sir. I have been since the second I was born. Unfortunately for Snape – "

"_Professor _Snape, Harry"

"Unfortunately for _professor _Snape, all Potter's are built in with a trouble gadget that makes us automatically get on any Snape's nerves within the first minute of meeting one another. I doubt that the fact I'm in a completely different world change this adverse affect as in this world at least, I feel Snape's nerves might just be a little tighter, what with the marauders running wild" he sniffed disdainfully.

"We don't get along" his voice was flat as the adults stared at him with varying degrees of amusement and scepticism.

At that they all nodded.

"But I still feel it would be prudent to ask his assistance in getting you home"

"I beg to differ"

"Then you may differ, but I will still be calling in Severus to help you" Harry almost growled.

"I don't need the slimy gits help. For Christ's sake man! Can't you see that? I would rather be with Slytherin himself than with that abomination that has the gall to call itself human!" Dumbledore frowned, but both Sirius and James were grinning to each other. Lupin was looking amused and lily outraged.

"I see you have a history with the man?"

"You see I do. Then you will understand that if he comes within five feet of me it is likely that he will spontaneously combust, accidental magic taken fully into consideration" Dumbledore frowned at him, seeming confused at the hostility Harry was showing towards his favourite potions professor.

"Would you mind enlightening us?"

"Yes I would. What happened between me and that bastard is my business and therefore not yours"

"But if you are going to be treating him like the Severus in your world he will have no idea why this is so, do you not think you at least owe him an explanation?"

"I do not owe the slimy git anything, and I never will. I _refuse _to work with him and no matter what you say, _never _will!"

Fifteen minutes later a steaming Harry was sitting in front of a curious Severus Snape.

* * *

"I am worried about this, Miverva. There is something Harry is not telling us" Minerva resisted the temptation to tell Albus that Harry hadn't really _told _them anything, and therefore there would be a _lot _'Harry wasn't telling them' but resisted the erg. They had questioned him, and he had given them answers. However shifty those answers might have been. 

"I understand what you're saying, Albus, I too find Harry a little... odd" The old man behind the desk nodded absentmindedly, his mind obviously elsewhere. Suddenly Minerva straightened, as if something had just occurred to her.

"Albus! Has any one informed Gypsy and Cody of the... results this meeting has had?" The headmaster looked up at her, his sapphire blue eyes twinkling at the idea of the two troublemakers not being informed.

"Unless Lily and James have informed them, which I do not find probable, I would doubt it sincerely" McGonagall groaned into her hands.

"They'll be going stir-crazy!"

* * *

**A/N:** Wow. I hate this chapter so much. It took me forever to write it (and it's _STILL _midgity), and I just couldn't think of anything else to add to it. I mean, if I kept on going with it then I really, really would have taken me _years _to post it. 

Life's been a bit hectic lately, as you might have guessed.

Who here hates netball? Well trust me, at the moment, I despise it.

Ok, next chap might take a while (maybe even longer than this one) but I'll post it as soon as I can (Cheers self along) as long as you get your lazy arses moving and **R**E**V**I**E**W!!

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	4. Of Troubled Minds

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own it. Do I ever?

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**C****hapter Four **

Of troubled minds

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When Harry had drunk the potion, his first thought, and last in a twisted sort of way, had been that he was about to die. 

He had, of course, immediately felt the total irony of the idea.

He was going to die? Here? Now? Where was Voldemort? Where was Dumbledore? Where was the final battle? Where were the armies? The death eaters? The wands? The thoughts? The ideas? The answers? Where was it all? How could he die from simply a potion gone wrong?

_Harry Potter_, he had thought to himself, _was not supposed to die like this, in a potions class, being poisoned by his professor._

Could life _get_ any stupider?

_Apparently_, he thought as he felt his mind slowly rising to consciousness, _it can_.

* * *

Cody Potter flopped down on his bed, pulling the heavy book that he had been reading up and onto his pillow as he buried his head next to it. After a few seconds, the need for oxygen drove him up again and he sighed, rolling onto his back so he stared up at the baby blue ceiling of his room. 

The book was a big, leather bound volume that he had been reading in an attempt to find out some reason for the sudden and quite random appearance of his brother, his _dead_ brother, in his world. Something had been nagging him since he had heard the story the adults had delivered to him and his sister, something that told him there was a flaw, a huge, enormous fault in the story his brother had told.

He glared at the book, which had been most unhelpful, before returning his gaze to the ceiling with a last, heartfelt sigh.

Something was wrong.

How anybody could miss it was beyond him.

The story they had been told was true, but only in a twisted and warped kind of way.

Something was very, very wrong with Harry Potter.

And Cody was determined to find out what it was.

The slight sound of the door opening made him look up in surprise, curious as to who would invade his domain. The flash of dark hair at the doorway came closer to him, and he felt the bed dip as Gypsy sat down. He rolled onto his side and waited for her to say something, after all, why else would she come into his room?

"Have you figured it out yet?" Gypsy's voice was uncharacteristically quite and solemn, but he could sense a growing excitement beneath her serious tone, and he sat up expectantly as he shook his head to the negative.

"Not yet. But... You noticed it too?" she snorted and looked at him like he was a total idiot.

"Um... how could I miss it exactly?"

"The adults seem to be doing a fine job of becoming blind, how was I to know whether or not you noticed?"

"I'm your sister, your other half, if you noticed, then _I _sure noticed"

"I could point out a lot of times when that wasn't exactly true, you know"

"You better bloody not"

"If that a threat, Addy?"

"Yes and don't call me that"

"Threatening is bad Addy, and why not?"

"Because it's not my name, you twat!"

"Do you think that I was born 'Audience' then? Really? Addy, grow a life"

"If you call me that one more time I'll tell Malfoy you think his sister's hot"

"I don't, though"

"_He_ doesn't have to know that"

"You wouldn't dare! That's virtually homicide!"

"Try me"

"Fine then, _Gypallia_"

"One more word and I won't even bother to get Malfoy to do the dirty work. I will kill you myself" they both grinned at each other before simultaneously turning away and looking around the room. Gypsy started to hum under her breath and bounce up and down on his bed. Cody's eyes narrowed automatically at her.

"New rule. No bouncing on my bed, and in return I won't bounce on yours" Gypsy scowled but nodded, their previous bout of arguments seemingly forgotten.

"So, gave you figured it out yet? What's up with him" Cody asked, curious despite himself as to what his sister had discovered, and he was sure she'd discovered something; she wouldn't have bought it up if she hadn't.

Gypsy looked at him with impish delight as she nodded enthusiastically to the question.

"I think I've got something, but I'm not certain. It was something he said in the office, something that Padfoot said he said, which Siri dismissed pretty quick, but I reckon it was something he really didn't want them to remember. He covered it up pretty well, but no matter what he tried to do it was obvious he'd made a mistake" Cody's risen eyebrow made it clear that it had been anything but 'obvious'. Gypsy shrugged.

"Sometimes I reckon you're more thick (A/N: My computer has a grammar problem! Can't it see that more thick should soo be legitimate?) Than a brick wall, Cody. There really is no limit to your idiocy. It's not so much what he said, but what he didn't say. Siri said that at some point, Harry said something in some weird language" Cody frowned, he could see the oddness of the fact, but it wasn't overly incriminating.

"Did any of them recognise the language at least?" Cody asked, still considering what the 'problem' could be.

"Remus seemed to think it was Hebraic, i.e. Hebrew. (**A/N: **The next bit I'm not sure about since I'm not really all that into biblical stuff, so let's just pretend, if you do know, that it's true) Which happens to be one of the oldest languages in the world, it's what the bible was originally written in; it's the language of God, so to speak. But it gets better. There is no possible way that Harry could have learnt it, unless he either a, is hiding a secret, or b, is hiding an even bigger secret, and of course their's always c, we have no idea what we're talking about" Cody nodded, seemingly opting for the last idea.

"Hebrew? How did you know all that?"

"Just because I never listen in class doesn't mean I'm an idiot. If I want to find something out then I try my damned hardest. But I have a feeling this won't be as easy as normal" Gypsy said with a sigh, before perking up again "at least I get a bit of a challenge though!" it was Cody's turn to roll his eyes at his twin's comment, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Well it's bound to be complicated, there're alternate realities concerned here, and how can it _not _be complicated. Until this evening I'd never even _heard _of alternate reality's even existing. Even if it _isn't_ really complicated, it's sure gonna _look_ like it is" Gypsy was grinning mischievously by the time he had finished and gave a quick impatient nod in agreement.

"But it's gonna be fun. I'm sure happy I get to be a part of it all, imagine! We're possible the first people in the universe to ever actually come onto contact with the very _idea_" her voice was laden with excitement and her eyes shone with the possibilities while Cody nodded his own, somewhat more conservative agreement.

"Well, sure, in known history perhaps, yeah, come to think of it there might be other copies of us who already know about the different universes and that stuff. How weird would that be?" Gypsy nodded her agreement before bounding off his bed and standing near the door, obviously waiting for Cody to come too.

"We'd better be going down for lunch, mom was making rolls last time I saw her, in something of a frenzy. I think she just needed something to do, you know, anything but think?" Cody nodded his understanding before he rolled off the bed, landing with a thump on the floor, Gypsy looked at him disapprovingly.

"You'll get brain damage if you keep on doing that you twit. It can't be healthy" Cody just nodded again, still lying face down on the floor. Gypsy seemed to reconsider her words.

"Maybe it's a little to late to be worrying about the brain damage then" Cody nodded again before stopping suddenly and rolling over so he was on his back looking up at the still diminutive, although in his splayed position on the floor, taller than him, form of his sister.

He frowned.

"Was that an insult?" Gypsy just smirked at him, flicking blue-streaked hair over her shoulder as she glared down at her brother with a clear look of superiority on her face.

"Insult? Would I insult you Cody? Would I ever?" there was no reply as her brother sat up and then, virtually pulling all the sheets off the bed, clawed himself up into a standing position. Gypsy smiled at Cody sweetly, offering him her right arm.

"There now, no hard feelings" a reluctant smile tugged at her brothers lips as he took the arm with an elegant bow

"None whatsoever, my liege"

* * *

Lily Potter looked up in surprise as her two children stepped into the room, arm in arm, talking in the way of old Elizabethan gentlemen and gentleladies. Her head slowly dropped again as she realised it was just the two of them, and their silly antics. 

The twins, both fifteen years old, seemed to many people to be as different as night and day.

The bouncy Gypsy, aptly named, many told her, with her laugh and mischievous ways, she could give any rover a run for his money; exploring left, right, centre, up and down in an attempt to find more things out and add them to her knowledge in the hope it would come close to that of her brother.

Cody, a subtle reminder and memoriam to Lily's first child, not often picked up upon. The American name was a reminder that Harry had died in the large country, but also a sign of forgiveness that Lily held no grudge against the America's in any way. Compared to his sister he was quite and studious, well ahead in all his studies and at times able to compete and sometimes triumph over the intellect and intelligence of even Hermione Granger.

But underneath the thick layers of jokes and pranks as well as books and conversations with leading wizards in all different fields, Gypsy and Cody could swap places and no one would know. Cody was by far the more roguish of the two, his sharp mind coming up with fun and games at every other second of the day. Gypsy herself was more concerned about rules than her brother, when he found something he cared to break them for. She was hesitant to completely step out of the boundaries always wanting the protection of her elders covering her to some minimum extent, something her brother, if he wanted to, had no qualms about.

The two children knew each other inside out.

They had grown up with a grieving family for the better part of their lives, something that had moulded them into the people they were. Both were extremely intelligent and both were equipped with the families and friends to use said intelligence to its total, and large, capacity.

Whoever said contacts didn't count was very, very wrong.

Lily Potter was proud of her children, and although the twins had originally been a mistake, she was glad that they were there to brighten up the dark moments in her life.

After Harry's birth, both James and Lily had decided that one child was just fine. There was a war going on, and introducing more young, innocent and more to the point, defenceless, humans was not going to help the effort. One child, they had both decided, was more than enough.

But then Lily had found out she was pregnant again, and although they had not known at the beginning the 'child' would be 'children' they had still been reluctant to let the pregnancy go ahead.

But Lily, now the proud mother of two of the most intelligent students in Hogwarts, was happy that they had not gone ahead with the planned abortion.

Her hand drifted to her stomach as she thought of children, wondering for the hundredth time how Harry had been able to see that, once again, she was bearing a child. She was only six weeks pregnant, and unless you were really looking, it was almost impossible to tell that soon there would be another addition to the Potter household.

It was so early on, in fact, that neither Lily nor James had known whether the child would be a boy or a girl, they defiantly had not decided on names.

This left an even bigger question, which was still unanswered.

How had he known?

* * *

Harry Potter lay curled up in a tight little ball on a huge red chair in the Gryffindor common room. 

Using one of the small red and gold cushions that had been sprawled out on the couch, for it was more of a couch than just a chair, for a pillow, he was looking into the roaring fire with something similar to dismay etched on his face by the dancing flames, his green eyes glazed as he envisioned something that was just beyond his reach.

The clock that showed the time struck midnight, it's gong like sound echoing around the room, informing him, and only him really, that the next day had become the present one.

But still Harry didn't move a single muscle, seemingly unaware of anything else but the bright forms of the orange flames.

And the clock kept on ticking, waiting for the next hour, and then the next.

* * *

**A/N: **Hello all! Wow! I went into such a frenzy over this when I had the **best** idea. Originally the character that Charlotte (Lily's baby) will end up being was going to be some random I employed cheaply, but no longer. Lotte is going to have a much bigger part, but you are so going to have to wait for me to tell you anything. A little clue though? Next chappie. 

R**E**V**I**E**W**!

Reviewers are wonderful and I thank you all so, so much for being kind enough to spare a moment to tell me what you think. It was great to sit down, turn on the laptop, and see that I had at least _one_ person who found what I was writing even mildly interesting. Thankyou all, I won't answer comments, mainly because everything asked is either too important to say or hopefully has been solved in this chapter. Oh, by the way, sorry it's so short.

**P**L**E**A**S**E **R**E**V**I**E**W!

Like I said guys, reviewers make my day, which sure sounds pretty pathetic, I know, because every time I read the phrase in someone's author notes I sneer at the screen. But I'm discovering it's true, so thankyou and please don't forget to add your opinions and stuff.

P**L**E**A**S**E**, **P**L**E**A**S**E **R**E**V**I**E**W!!

Oh, also, if you want to give me a basic idea of who you think Harry should be paired with then feel free. I've got an idea, but I'm not sure that you lot will like it all that much as it's a bit odd. OC's will be coming soon, although not that many of them, if you'd prefer to wait. Thanks again.

**P**L**E**A**S**E P**L**E**A**S**E**, **P**L**E**A**S**E **R**E**V**I**E**W!!!!

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Pre. 


	5. The Deceptiveness that comes Hereby

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it. Have I ever?

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**Chapter Five **– The deceptiveness that comes hereby

* * *

Canada was cold in winter.

It was icy, snow covered the ground and icicles hung pinnacle like from the pines. Any water was frozen over, silent and hard on the outside, even if, underneath the thin crust of ice, it flowed and flowed.

Appearances could be deceiving, after all.

Gypsy laughed as she tottered out onto the magically reinforced ice, her arms flailing like a windmill as she tried to make her way over to her brother, on the other side of the medium sized pond. Cody grinned and skated further away from her, gliding in circles on the white surface.

With a thump Gypsy landed on her padded behind.

"Why did I agree to this?" her wail of complaint was layered with humour and happiness as she glared balefully at her brother, wide hazel eyes blinking at him tearfully, her bottom lip protruding just a little too far for how she was acting to be taken literally.

Cody grinned, coming over to help her up.

With a laugh from his sister and a surprised scream from Cody he too was sitting on the ice looking over to a hysterical Gypsy. He gave into the smile that was threatening to take over his face and both of them were laughing on the lake, happy.

Appearances could be deceptive.

"Are you two done yet?" they both looked up, the grins on their faces growing as the looked at their also laughing father. Gypsy nodded from her snow angel position on the ice, just as Cody tried to get up and run off the pond to show just how ready he was. He fell over backwards though, and was soon in the same position that Gypsy was; spreadeagled out on the cold surface.

And then, with absolutely no warning, their laughing father burst into tears.

Both Gypsy and Cody froze and looked up to their dad, watching as he wailed his heart out for the first time since they had been two and a half years old. Neither of them moved as the man dropped down onto the hard surface and put his face in his hands, sobs racking his body as he shook his head in what might have been denial.

The two exchanged '_looks'_ and Gypsy tottered up, unused to the slippery surface, but managed to half drag/claw, half skate over to her father, then giving a huge bear hug that was welcomed as James moved his sobbing face from his hands to her shoulder. A second later Cody joined them and the three stayed that way until the warning dinger went off; telling them that the spell placed on the ice to make it un-breakable had faded off.

Gypsy spoke first.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, her voice surprisingly gentle compared to what her sharp eyes and even sharper tongue would normally say, her eyes soft and her tongue almost melting. (A/N: huh? What did I juss write?)

It was the sort of question that her mother and father had asked her when she was younger, when she'd gotten into a cat fight with their neighbour, she'd gone home crying her eyes out covered in scratches and bruises with a black eye. The neighbour, she had later informed Cody, had not been so lucky.

Her dad had sat her down on his knee and looked at her with reproachful hazel eyes, the exact replica of her own, and asked in a very solemn and formal voice 'do you want to talk about it?' But Gypsy rarely had wanted to, and only on a few, special occasions had the girl ever answered in all honesty, baring her emotions for inspection. The same, she knew, was true of Cody.

And now the roles had been reversed.

In truth, Gypsy didn't expect an answer, the sort of thing bothering her father was the sort of thing one didn't speak of, but she thought the familiarity of the question might make contact to the exhausted man, she was not disappointed. Gathering his courage James Potter shook his head and managed to find enough energy to ruffle her long black-blue hair.

"No Cupcake, it's fine, I guess it just got a little too much for me" Cody, on Gypsy's right side, gave his dad a tight hug and nodded.

"Should we be getting back dad? Mum'll chop your toes off if you're not back within her allocated amount of time, dearest papa" James smiled, already looking much more like the father he was supposed too, leaving the two of them much more like the children they were meant to resemble.

"Could be a problem. But you'll back me up won't you" the two nodded solemnly, both adopting identical sceptical but supportive looks that made their father chuckle.

"Sometimes you worry me, twinles" their eyes narrowed simultaneously at the nickname; Twinles had been what the two were called when they had been tiny, and they had both been exceptionally relieved to outgrow the nickname, and this sudden re-introduction of it might cause trouble; their mother, who had invented it, found it oddly endearing and had been reluctant to stop using it, but their persuasive measures had never failed before... but now, with an unidentified (in the sense of whether their brother would cave in or not to their... persuasion techniques) stranger in the house... it could cause trouble...

Without any warning the two rushed towards their father, jumping the man and doing their best to pin him to the ground for 'interrogation'.

Much laughing ensued, and if it had not been for the only-just-dry tear tracks that dripped down James Potter's face, it might have been possible to conceive that all was well.

But it was not possible, for all the family tried.

Things were not always as they seemed, and appearances could be deceptive.

* * *

"Mr Potter?" Harry jerked his head up, his lips twisting themselves into an odd smile that didn't even almost reach his eyes. The aged form of Dumbledore took a seat in one of the plush couches that lined the common room, and still Harry didn't move.

"I have been meaning to talk to you for quite a while now. Tell me, do you know why?" Harry did know why.

But he shook his head none the less, and Dumbledore sighed unhappily, turning his head so he was gazing out of the Gryffindor window, watching the green grass, and the sparkling blue water in the summer sun.

"What you have told me about your arrival here is amusing, Harry. If I were not myself, your lies and half-truths would have gone unnoticed" Harry's head buried deeper into the pillow he was lying on as he waited for the headmaster to continue.

"I am ashamed that you think I am so gullible, not for me, but for you; because that will probably be one of the worst mistakes you ever make. You have lied to me about where you come from, about why you are here, whatever you say. I know it is true. But I am also able to understand that the truth is something you must protect, from me as much as Voldemort. And I can only find pity for you, Harry, anger is a feeling I have long since abandoned" he stopped talking and watched the teen, whose head was still buried in the pile of pillows.

For almost twenty minutes, neither of them moved in the slightest, their shallow breathing the only sound in the room.

"I can't tell you the truth" the muffled answer didn't surprise the elderly man in the slightest and he shrugged his agreement.

"I had guessed as much, but it would have been nice if you had told me as much, rather than just saying you arrived here one second after you left. It is clear that _something_ happened to you, and I am most certainly curious. But my curiosity can, and will, be repressed if you wish it to be, and we will not speak of this matter until you think that the time is right, if ever" he finished, and again waited for Harry to comment.

Harry lifted his head from the pile of cushions and turned to Dumbledore, opening his mouth to say something, and then closed it again suddenly. He turned his head to look out of the window, seeing the same green grass and the same azure lake and the same picture perfect sky with the same white clouds that dotted his horizon, yet so totally different. They made him realise something.

"You're different to my Albus Dumbledore" a pause as Harry seemed to decide on what else to say "You really are. At first I couldn't see it. You're still old, you still love lemon drops, you still get very scary when you get very angry, and you still seem to care in an overprotective kind of way. It was odd walking into your office, and seeing everything identical to the way it always has been, well, apart from a few contraptions that... went missing... at the end of last year, and even odder seeing you sitting there, as you always have been.

"It scared me, to think that things could be that unchangeable. That wherever I went, something's, and not necessarily the things I wanted to, would always be the same. I don't think I have ever been as afraid in my entire life, and that is saying something" he trailed of, still watching as a bird zoomed down, skimming the lake and causing small ripples to flow outwards, reflecting to blue sky, and the darkness of what was underneath the surface.

Dumbledore was silent.

"Because, I thought, if nothing else around me changes, what hope do I have? If none of the things about me can change enough to impact on me, then I have about a snowball's chance in hell of changing myself. And that terrified me even more than the fact that I would have to live in the same prejudice world, and just continue, as if I found everything about it perfect" he stopped and sighed, placing his head in his hands, hiding the world from his eyes.

"You've always helped me before, Professor, and now you're not. Isn't that funny? I bet you don't even know what I'm talking about, you're probably sitting there thinking 'Oh, gosh, really? Now how did that happen, we must correct the problem'. Well don't worry professor, because I think I rather like it this way. I'm not in imminent danger of death, if I was I think I _would_ be annoyed, but at the moment I like this no-help thing just fine" he stopped again, waiting to see if Dumbledore would say anything.

Silence.

"I only wish, my Albus Dumbledore could be more like you, and see that sometimes what a person needs can't be given, and that giving only makes it worse" Harry lifted his head again, looking Dumbledore in the eyes.

"So thankyou, but I can't tell you, and if I need anything then I'll come to you. You can try and second guess me, feel free, just please don't act upon those guesses. You don't know me, which will probably make your guessing more accurate, but nonetheless, please. If I want anything, I'll call you. You and me? We have an ordinary student/teacher relationship. There's nothing special about me, you're just a teacher. That's how I want it to be, that's how I hope you will understand for me, it has to be. Now, I'm going for a walk, don't worry. I'll be just fine" and with that he stood up without waiting for further reply's and left the common room, thanking the fat lady on the way out.

His abrupt departure left the headmaster with the feeling that he had been afraid of Albus's reaction to his news/opinion, and had not wanted to see if the old man was angry.

But Albus Dumbledore was not angry.

He was, in fact, very happy.

"An 'ordinary student', Mr Potter? An ordinary student. Well then, if that's the way you want it... that's the way we'll do it"

* * *

Severus Snape stood above Neville Longbottom, glaring down at the younger boy with one his darkest, meanest, _scariest _glares. Neville was reacting appropriately, and looked just about ready to drop dead on the spot. Just the way the Professor wanted it.

Mwahahaha...

Severus quickly snapped at the small internal voice that was wheezing with laughter to shut up, and continued to simply _look _at the Gryffindor. So far looking had worked just fine, Severus could see that if he made any sudden movements the Gryffindor boy would actually, truly faint.

Faint as in, loose consciousness and drop to the floor.

So, as much as he would have loved to, Severus made no sudden movements.

"Longbottom" Snape drawled slowly, making sure to stretch out the name, and roll the syllables around in his mouth until he could see the sweat of Neville's forehead. After a few moments of delightful stewing he continued.

"You _imbecile. _I had thought that after the incident with the Coffer Concoction your idiocy would ceased to amaze me, but even for you, Longbottom, this is a whole new level. I had thought that the Swelling solution might make you have at least the barest minimum spark of recognition when a potion was going wrong. I had thought that the Bashing Beverage might make you just a bit more aware of what you were doing in my classroom! However, I can clearly, very clearly, a little _too _clearly, see exactly how much your complete and utter brainlessness has ruined your, and in the process my, life!"

It was the day after the 'accident' in potions in which one Harry James I-don't-give-a-stuff-any-more Potter had suddenly disappeared, and the potion that the raven haired teenager had been forced to take had belonged (you guessed it) to one Neville oh-my-god-quivering-wreck Longbottom.

And professor Snape was extracting his revenge from the sixteen year old.

None of the Gryffindor's saw fit to point out to him that if he hadn't put the boomslang into the potion then just perhaps the whole fiasco might have been avoided. They seriously doubted that professor Snape would welcome the input, and as well as that, they were to busy cowering.

Not all of the sixth year Gryffindor's were in attendance, Ronald Bilius Weasley, Lavender Rosemary Brown and Hermione Anne Granger (which had of course contributed to the fact of why Neville was being shouted at) were all absent from the class.

It was not really a question of why, any first year hufflepuff knew that.

After all, it was not every day that the boy-who-lived disappeared into thin air after an argument with a known (although (apparently) ex) death eater.

Oh yes, the rumor mill was working over time.

Everyone who had been close to Harry were amazed at the stories being spun, at the glances they received in the hall that varied from 'wow, you knew Harry Potter, _the _Harry Potter' to 'Oh my god, I didn't realise you were Lily Potter's illegitimate brothers half sister's daughter's grandfather's son's daughter by marriage...' which had been decidedly odd, especially when the claim was made referring to Ron.

Within only a day of Harry's disappearance, the castle was back in working order and classes were being held (they had been cancelled the afternoon before when Dumbledore had called a rather impromptu meeting with all the staff, most of which were order personnel).

So after a day of 'omg! The savior is gone', the disappearance of the boy who lived had then been chalked up as deliberate; and the whole 'It was an accident' thing as an elaborate hoax played by the light side to make it look at though Harry was weak.

Unfortunately the reality was quite different, and although the whole castle believed the rumours that Tonks (undercover, of course) had planted, it didn't change the truth.

Harry Potter was missing, and it was all Snape's fault.

Therefore: it was all Neville's.

"Longbottom. I expect you to tell me exactly, _exactly _what you did to that potion. If I don't have the exact instructions by tomorrow afternoon..." he left it hanging.

"Understood?" the quivering form that was Nevillle nodded quickly, slumping to the ground in relief when Snape swept back to the front of the classroom.

"Class dismissed"

* * *

For Harry, however, his distorted time line of holidays passed relatively uneventfully: he lay around the Gryffindor tower, reading and writing, watching and drawing, creating and destroying, waiting for the summer to be over, and the new school year to begin. Gypsy and Cody seemed to act as they normally would: almost, _almost_ forgetting the existence of their brother, playing with their parents, laughing with their friends and counting the days down to the first day of school with undeniable relish.

Nothing of real consequence happened, and apart from the sudden decrease of death eater attacks, everything was normal.

But then again, appearances could be deceptive.

* * *

A/N: Ok, I have some VERY IMPORTANT notices for everyone reading this fic:

**Do you think that I put too much description in and not enough dialogue?**

**Should I add more of the holiday period or just get them all to Hogwarts as quick as possible?**

**Does anyone have any original suggestions for DADA professor?**

Ok, so the second two aren't overly important, but the first one is, and I'd really, really, REALLY appreciate it if you replied – I've been going over my work and I suddenly realised I add so much boring background shit, I bet people just stop reading cose they find it so boring. I actually thought to myself that I would too, but I'm not entirely sure as I _am _the one who writes the damn thing. So PLEASE answer, and suggestions about the other two would be welcome, although not as important as the first.

I won't post the next chapter for a while, as I need to write it and all, and not to mention I'm a lazy pig(ie). Hehe, that reminds me, I drew a little blob the other day and called it 'Cochonie'. I found it hilarious, but no one else seemed to get the joke. Oh, just in case you weren't aware, 'Cochon' in French means pig.

Also I'm incredibly sorry that chapter took so long to get out, and I'll warn you again that the next one won't be up for WEEKS, not ONLY because I'm a lazy piggie, but because my exams are in two and I've run out of things to clean in m room... so that means study. It's my yearlies and I really, really need good marks... otherwise I am SO dead.

I haven't been listening to a word the teachers say this semester, and I have to go over all the work we've done since then for all my subjects, French included, although I think I might just miss out on PE, it's the only thing I've every failed, although that was in year seven. OMG!! I HATE EXAMS!!! And to top things off – get this – we can't even go home after our exams for the day are over, all because a bunch of years ten's went off between exams (which we're not supposed to do – we have to stay in 'study rooms' erk. Life is pathetic. Or it may just be me.

But I'm pissed of at our school (screw them!! SCREW THEM ALL!!!) and it's too hot at the moment for it to be even conceivable that life can continue... I hate the heat and... and... don't worry, I'll think of something.

And I've just realised how pathetically long this whole thing is and how it's probably a waste of space because you'll never read it anyway, so that's all I'm going to write.

Oh, wait, I just need to tell **gallandro-83** something:

**Harry has not yet had the chance (or power, really) to kill Voldemort so far in his world, he's only grown an attitude (which doesn't help much), although chances have increased for the Voldemort of Cody and Gypsy's world, which will hopefully be explained soonish.**

Yay! Thankyou! Alternate reality's are the best stories on the fandom (as long as they're written well, which could mean bad things for this fic) although I'm not so much into insane Harry ones... so although he's definitely odd, he won't be institutionalised just yet

**Erm... Yeah. Oops. When I first wrote this I couldn't decided how to kill Harry, everyone else always has him dying when Voldemort attacks (which in this one he doesn't) and I guess my mind sorta had it stuck that he died that way, even though I made it pretty clear he didn't... sorry. Thanks for pointing it out, for now I don't think I'll do anything about it, but I _will _fix it, when I have more time and can think of something to put in... oh god. I'm so lazy.**

I hadn't really thought all that much about Sirius to tell the truth, but I'll be sure to add him in. Hey! Maybe he could be DADA teacher or something... Nah, maybe not, too overdone. Ok. Erm... I'll find a way :P

**You know, right now I'm wondering too. I'm sure it'll come to me**

The 'new universe structure' is there, and I've got it all planned out inside my head, because that's just what I do. What I've written so far about it is seriously _nothing_, I'm so obsessed with background stuff that I tend to write too much of it, something that's been worrying me a lot, as you may have noticed above. It's so weird, you just end up reading so much fanfic that there comes a point where you can just come up with an entire world just like that. It's so fun. I've been making my own worlds (god I came up with some freakish names) since I was nine and in year five... Anyway. Rambling. Sorry.

**Did you know that in the cannon series Ginny is like, my idol, even tho she's younger than me. I think she's so cool! So she definitely won't be horrible, just in case you were wondering, and Ron... yeah. I follow your lead. Enough said about him.**

And OMG!! You must be sitting there reading this going 'What are you... Desperate?' well... yeah. I am. Your review was so so so nice and I was reading it and I almost burst into tears it was so nice. So thankyouthankyouthankyou veryveryveryvery much!! I was so happy that I just sat down and thought 'screw reading fanfics, I'm going to write a nice long and boring reply for the nice person' (which is big for me) and so I have. So I'm sorry about this, the reply is about as long as the amount of chapter five there is (oops?) and THANKYOU SO SO MUCH!!!!!!!

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Pre


	6. The School Year

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it. Will I ever?

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**A/N: **Real quick note: I know JK said Blaise was a guy, but in this he's gonna be a she cose I like those one's better. In case you think it's gonna be B/H, I doubt it. Not unless there's an amazing amount of support for it. If you want me to then tell me in your review – but at the rate we're going, I don't think so.

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**Chapter Six **– The school year

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"Something had just occurred to me. It's come rather suddenly, so don't be surprised when it makes minimum sense to you. Tell me exactly why I'm not in classes at the moment"

"The 1996/1997 school year has yet to begin, Harry, classes will not be started until such a time as September the first. Currently it is August 5th. Therefore class will start in just under a month. Is there a problem with that?" The professor asked gently, her tight knot of hair a little more loose than it normally was when the students were prone to wonder the corridors.

Harry nodded, piecing something together in his mind.

"Of course, I'm sorry, I must admit, I hadn't given much thought to the calendar I was so exited about all this" Minerva nodded, a slight curl of her lips giving her amusement away.

"I don't doubt that was the case Mr Potter" for a moment there was silence as both seemed to consider the conversation.

"I think it would be best if I adopted a new name, to... distance myself from the Potter's of this universe. I understand that my previous behaviour has probably not been very inclined to the idea, but I hope that I can change that. I mean, my influence in this world... it might get messy. You're probably thinking that I couldn't cause as much trouble to worry you too much, but I think it would be best" he trailed off with a sigh, waiting for the surprised professor's reply.

"I think I quite agree with you Mister Potter. Do you have any suitable suggestions?" this time it was Harry's turn to start at McGonagall's words, but after a few moments of consideration a slow smile spread across his features. He tapped a finger to his lips as he thought, considering the question.

Like every child, Harry had played the game.

It was the game where you dreamt up a world, and simply lived there, never leaving until you grew up. You assumed a new identity, became a new person with new abilities and new ways of doing things that you couldn't do in reality. You created friends who played with you everyday, enough food to feed a third world country, cute and furry things, because every day dream needed them, as well as parents who would love you.

In The World you had magical powers; sometimes you could fly, sometimes you were more inclined to be invisible, and slip by people unnoticed. Sometimes you could speak to animals and sometimes you could breathe underwater.

The persona's you adopted stayed with you. An alias and a joke name, a sort of longing that curled around your heart... you didn't want to be who people knew you as, you wanted to be _you._ That laugh name you made up when you were half asleep and built up and built up until you had your own marble castle, or glass box.

His smile was radiant, reducing the sixteen year old so much and taking away so many hard gained years that he looked like a young boy about to receive his wand, as he replied to the somehow pitying transfiguration teacher.

As he told her, Minerva felt her own lips curl up into a, for once, unrestrained smile.

* * *

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! I hope that you have all had an enjoyable summer holidays" Dumbledore beamed at the hall in general, his eyes settling on Cody and Gypsy for a moment longer than they normally would. No one seemed to notice this, although Draco Malfoy's eyebrow twitched slightly.

But Harry Potter was not concerned about any of that, not that he could see any of it _anyway_.

The voice of his headmaster was floating through the wooden doors, somewhat subdued by the thick door, but nonetheless there. He was suddenly nervous as the time approached. Before, he had been cool as a cucumber– after all, he was only being sorted – but now, that had suddenly changed.

Stage fright, McGonagall had told him with a slight smile as she walked out, seemingly not caring in the least that she had just stepped out to be the main focus of almost one thousand students eyes.

Well, maybe she had been right, but Harry wasn't about to admit as much, to himself or to her.

"Before we begin the feast however, there is one more person who needs to choose a house in which to be placed" the irony of the words barely struck Harry, but his lips curled automatically nonetheless.

"...An exchange student from Canada will be staying with us after the school he comes from expelled him at the end of last year" Harry blinked. Where had that lie come from? His subconscious however, kicked him, and he felt a reluctant grin of envy tug at his lips. Dumbledore was good; by telling the school he had been expelled, any investigation to see which school he had really come from could be cut short with just a few well chosen words 'I don't want to talk about it' 'I'm sorry, but I don't feel like discussing it' and 'not just now' would all be viable excuses – after all, why _would _he want to chat about a school he had been thrown out of.

Not to mention, if someone (such as Hermione) were to get really serious about it and somehow contact whatever school he was supposed to have gone to, it would not be so suspicious if they denied knowing anything about him – after all, they _did _kick him out.

He felt like banging his head against the wall with the intricacy of it all, but found, to his absolute horror, that some part of his brain was (cackling evilly) enjoying the complex makings of the lies.

"...If you are wondering why he has not yet been sorted, then here is the reason; I am not sure you would have taken so kindly to a stranger sitting amidst you with no warning" Harry briefly wondered why it was that Dumbledore was giving out so much (false) information. So many lies would be easier to see through.

He again got a rather painful kick from his Slytherin side.

It was so he wouldn't be questioned too much and so forced to come up with lies, much more transparent, on the spot.

He began to wonder wether Dumbledore really had been a Gryffindor, or if, perhaps, the old man had come from Slytherin, or Ravenclaw at the very least. It would make sense if he wanted to spread the rumour around that he didn't have to brains and only brawl.

This in itself was a very odd way to think of Dumbledore.

Harry quickly discontinued his thoughts, and tuned back in to what the Headmaster was saying.

"...Feel free to torture him for information about his previous life as much as you like, and if he does not wish to talk then I would suggest asking professor Snape for assistance, but for now, I would like to introduce you to Sebastian Jamison" there was polite amount of scattered clapping; Harry guessed that by now most people had lost interest in him, another Dumbledore ploy, no doubt, and he stepped out into the hall.

Having spent the last couple of weeks at Hogwarts, the great hall did not amaze him as much as it could, and would, have. So instead of gaping around him like a jelly fish, he concentrated all his energy of not hiding from all of the eyes that were focused intently on him.

He walked up to the stool and sat down, waiting for McGonagall to put the hat on him. After a view moments his view of the hall was hidden as the age old sorting hat flopped down over his eyes. He held his breath, waiting to see what the sorting hat made of him.

_Mr Potter, why hello! I'm quite surprised_ Harry felt like laughing giddily, at least the hat was talking to him, rather than just screaming out any old house before Harry had the chance to try and stop it from placing him somewhere he didn't want to be.

Like Slytherin, for example.

_**Hello** _he said, knowing that the hat would read his relief and no doubt be all the more curious.

_Yes, yes. Now let's have a look in here why don't we _Harry could feel the hat digging around in memories, and he had to suppress the urge to throw it off as it rooted around, looking for monumental events in his life that had changed him. Eventually he felt the foreign awareness come closer to the current timeline and then...

_My, my Mister Potter. I can see that you've had quite a shock over the last few weeks and certainly learnt a few things, although I think that all the questions that have been answered have just produced ten more query's for each, I hope that I will be able to contribute to the shock as much as possible! _If Harry hadn't been silently begging the hat not to place him in Slytherin, he would have been glaring at it. Instead he settled for begging the hat mentally and glaring at the general hall.

_No, no, not Slytherin Mr Potter, you've far outgrown Slytherin _now. _I think perhaps... Gryffindor..._Harry sighed in relief, unconsciously slumping down; the look on his face clearly told the hall that the two intellects had come to an agreeable decision.

_**Thankyou so much... erm... Hat?** _The hat chuckled.

_I never did have a name Mr Potter, but I wouldn't be so hasty to assume it will be Gryffindor you're sorted into... For it _is _true you have a very Slytherin way of thinking... Hmm... _

**_But haven't I outgrown Slytherin?_**

_Mr Potter, you take me so literally! Even though you have outgrown it... I simply met the _normal _expectations of Salazar's Slytherin's _there was a pause in both minds

_**Like... Being evil and slimy?** _The hat chuckled again and Harry supposed that his words _had_ been rather childish, and certainly very Gryffindor... not that that was bad or anything.

_Well, noo... not really. But I have to agree, this time I don't think its ready for you, no, no indeed, it will have to be..._

"_RAVENCLAW"_

As before, with the last time Harry was sorted, the last word the hat spoke was shouted out to the great hall with a great, ear drum shattering voice.

The whole hall saw the socked expression that settled on his face, and most of the Ravenclaws gave him a slight glare, before mellowing as the shocked look turned into one of enthusiasm.

Although he would have preferred to be sorted into the house of the lion, perhaps this was better. Although _why _the hat had chosen Ravenclaw of _all _the places it could have put him... After a quick re-assessment of his 'qualities' Harry had pinpointed the recent happenings of his transportation to this 'alternate universe' just might be the cause.

As he placed the hat back on the stool, not even bothering to thank it, he decided that he was going to make the best of a not-the-best situation.

Sitting down at the end of the Ravenclaw table he gave a hesitant smile to the two girl's sitting across from him, before turning to look at the person he was sitting next to him also and then back up to Dumbledore as the old man stood up to give his speech.

"Welcome Sebastian! I hope that you have a wonderful time in your new house, if you have any questions then I hope you will feel free to ask the prefects" Harry internally scoffed; he probably knew more about Hogwarts than all of the prefects put together! Not to be cocky, or anything.

He smiled up at the old man, fighting the urge to raise an eyebrow. Mind you, he had specifically asked if he could be treated the same as any other student would be. It was certainly true that any other student transferring would know nothing about Hogwarts and probably actually be so inclined as to ask the prefects for help.

Harry turned to his plate, which had filled itself up to the brim, and started eating.

The Ravenclaw next to him started to introduce herself and as he turned to look at her properly, he suddenly realised who she was. He had to consciously stop his mouth from dropping open, but no matter how hard he tried, couldn't stop the shifting of eyes towards the Gryffindor table.

The girl laughed, obviously noting his look at the red and gold table.

"Yeah, I've got a brother in Gryffindor at the moment, and five more who've already graduated. Don't even ask me why I'm not in Gryffindor with them though" she laughed and Harry found himself comparing this vibrant girl to the somewhat withdrawn (comparatively) one of his universe. The blonde across from Harry interrupted with a silly giggle.

"I can though; Ginny's the smartest witch in our year. She gets 100 in almost everything _and_ she's not obsessed with quidditch, like all her brothers are – hasn't been his with the bludgers so many times" she stuck out her hand "Sassi Parker. My parents couldn't agree on a name, so Sirius Black got to name me – he's my godfather. You can call me Sass" Harry shook the offered hand, way past the point of surprise.

Apparently, in this world, _anything_ was possible.

"Sebastian Jamison, but you already knew that right?" the two girls nodded and smiled, before Sassi pointed at the girl sitting next to her.

"This is Blaise Zambini, and her sister over there" she pointed two seats down from Ginny "is Miranda. We call her Minty. They don't really get along all that well, Minty's far more the sociable type while Blaise..." she trailed off and shrugged.

"Most people thought that she'd get into Slytherin. But she got Ravenclaw instead, and we're happy to have her. She's in sixth year, same as you and me, Minty's in fifth with Ginny and her pals" Harry nodded, vaguely recognising the golden-blond sitting next to Sassi from his own universe, although he thought that she _had _been in Slytherin.

"Just talking to you guys has got me lost, you know?" the two of them frowned and shook their heads, awaiting his explanation. After all, one did not throw seemingly flippant comments like that up and then leave them unexplained.

"Well, I got the message that all Ravenclaws were totally obsessed with reading and studying and barely even knew each _other _they never took their noses out of their books..." he trailed of grinning.

Ginny shook her head at him in mock sadness.

"You must have been thinking of Granger – she's the picture Ravenclaw" Harry barely noticed the look of warning that crossed Sassi's face before the girl changed the subject quickly, ignoring the subject of one 'Granger'. He also noticed that Blaise, who up until that point had been ignoring them, had twitched at the mention of his bushy haired friend and seemed to have silently tuned into the conversation.

"No way! I guess we study quite a bit, but it's not much, I mean, basically we're just _not_ lazy. We don't do all of that stuff excessively, and I guess I like to read in my spare time sometimes... but we're not only reading books" Sassi grinned at him, and Harry let the matter about Hermione slip past.

After the deserts had been cleared from the tables and all the plates were again sparkly clean, Dumbledore stood up for the announcements.

"Lady's and Gentlemen before you go to sleep I have a few beginning of term announcements I'd like to announce" he beamed at the sleepy students before continuing "for one, the duelling class shall be re-starting, but only for the sixth and seventh years" there was a ripple of talk through the hall before it quietened as Dumbledore stood patiently.

"The quidditch cup will also be re-started, but training must be supervised at all times by an adult professor, and any students found outside after curfew will be severely punished" Harry noted that the headmasters eyes had flickered towards the Gryffindor table and landed on Cody and Gypsy.

The two were looking entirely too angelic.

"And last, but certainly not least, after much talk during the summer break with the student council representatives" this time the whole hall looked at the two Potter children, who had abandoned the angelic look and were now posing as mini devils with huge grins covering their faces. Next to him Ginny was bouncing up and down muttering under her breath

"They did it! They actually did it!!" Harry assumed this was something that the twins had been planning on for a while. He waited curiously for Dumbledore to continue.

"You will no longer need to worry about school becoming too monotonous as once a term there will be a" he paused as if to savour his next word "'mufti' day. However only once a term. We will also be celebrating holiday's with a" he shot another look at Cody and Gypsy, a silvery eyebrow raised as it saying '_this is your last chance to back out' _the two just nodded enthusiastically

"...'ball' although I am assured that each one will have a different theme that will be advertised a month before the ball. I have been asked to inform you that the first term ball will be in the style of... an authentic muggle ball. Dress robes will be strictly banned and anyone found wearing any will be expelled from the party as soon as they arrive and not be allowed in until they are appropriately dressed. That will be all" Harry's mouth was almost touching the ground as he switched his gaze between his headmaster and his two siblings.

Both Ginny and Sassi were bouncing up and down in unison, obviously exited about the 'ball'. Harry felt vaguely ill, but noticed with relief that Blaise was looking at the two girls in a similar way to the way he was, although she also had a slightly distracted air.

He caught her navy eyes and made a spewing motion.

He was rewarded when she smiled slightly, but she still looked worried about something else, _other _than the fact that they were going to have to go to a _ball_.

He decided that he would kill his siblings if they ever came with in a foot of him.

_Too late._

"Do you like the idea for our ball, _Sebastian_" Gypsy stressed his name ever so slightly, but out of the corner of his eye he could see Blaise again focus her attentions on him. He looked at the dark haired girl flatly, wishing she had just left the sudden name change alone rather than feeling the need to prove she understood what was going on.

"Gypsy" he said by way of greeting "out of everything you have ever done... it is the worst of the _lot_" the girl nodded, twirling a blue streak of hair in her finger as she blinked sweetly up a the ceiling.

"You do me wrong, Bass" He could see Blaise looking at him intensely.

"You do me wrong, Gypsy" He imitated her, but she only laughed and ruffled his hair. Cody came up behind her, peering over her shoulder to see who she was talking to.

"Sebastian! I haven't seen you for ages!" Harry was thankful for fifteen year-old as he grinned and gave him a gruff hug.

"It wasn't that long ago, surely?" Cody shrugged and slung an arm around his shoulders. Harry noticed his eyes flick to Blaise and was relieved to realise that his brother had noticed the interest Blaise was bestowing upon Harry; and the suspicion.

"Well, we did meet up in Canada. You didn't tell me you were expelled but"

"You know, there's a reason for that" the message was clear to any one who was listening, as a few people were, that questions about his old school and expulsion would _not _be welcome. Cody shrugged.

"Fair enough. But Ravenclaw, Seb? Ravenclaw? I think I see you as more as a Gryffindor, even a Slytherin or Hufflepuff" Harry fake glared at him.

"You saying I'm not smart mate?" Cody laughed and patted him on the head

"If you can't figure it out, then I'm saying whatever you think I am. I gotta go though, I'm _meant _to be helping the first years up to the dormitories, so, I'll see you later mate" Harry nodded and waved as his brother grabbed his sister and headed towards the doors where the Gryffindors were leaving by.

He stood there for a second, before suddenly realising he wanted to ask his brother, or sister, something.

He shouted after them, and jogged over to where they waited.

"Listen, just before you go up, could you tell me where about Hermione Granger is please? I didn't see her sitting at the Gryffindor table and I heard one of the Ravenclaws mention her..." he trailed off, feeling his stomach sink as both Gypsy and Cody's faces paled. Foreboding swept over him as the two exchanged glances.

"You mean... you don't know?"

* * *

**A/N:** The reason this chapter is out so soon (for me) is because I have exams at the moment and therefore study periods scattered around everywhere. To most people that wouldn't make sense at all (exams? Well you're studying – right?) But to me...

This chapter is pretty demented, especially the beginning bit (even though it's true, I've got this whole fantasy world in my mind – please don't say I'm mad – but I thought that was normal...). Scratch that – very demented. You may not see it (which is unlikely) but I sure do, and it makes me want to cry; what happened to my dreams? My aspirations? My visions of greatness? All trampled to the ground in the form of _this _totally _pathetic _fic.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't review.

(**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW** REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW** REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW** REVIEW**REVIEW**REVIEW please)

(My next exam is science, and I'm a bit worried – but I don't think I'll fail it, yay!! I could be moved down if I don't go well tho, since I'm in the top science class for my year (yay!) but that was such a fluke... Wahhh!!!)

Cheeeeeese!!!

Pre

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(If you're wondering where Hermione is, no sweat, she'll be mentioned. But her image will be a bit ::mad scratching on the page:: a LOT different ::giggles:: funfunfun...) 


	7. Sleep All Night

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it. _Never_, ever.

* * *

**A/N: **I found this and thought that I may as well post it. It hasn't been spellchecked and really, doesn't have much in it at all. I suppose I might decide to write another chapter... if I get any reviews with some suggestions, but for the moment; my moralefor writting is definitly nothigh. Please enjoy and review! Reviewers make me smile :)

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**Chapter Seven - **Sleep All Night, Baby, Like a Good Lost Soul

* * *

Cody sat in the Gryffindor common room reading quietly. Opposite him, his sister was also sitting down in the comfortable chairs with a thick book in front of her, flipping the pages every so often.

It was almost eleven thirty, and only a few of the older students were left in the common room – most having the sense to head off to bed early, in preparation for the first day of classes. Which left the Potter twins sitting opposite each other, both apparently deeply emerged in their separate books.

Gypsy's fingers tapped the side of the chair irritably and with a steadily annoying beat, as she turned the page less and less, staring at Cody. Cody studiously ignored her.

Five more minutes passed in total silence, apart from the incessant _click, click, click_ of Gypsy's finger-nails as the connected solidly with the wooden arm-rests.

Finally, Cody slapped down the dog-eared paperback he was reading and looked up at Gypsy angrily, eyes narrowed in annoyance as she instantly stopped tapping her fingers, looking slightly guilty.

"What _is_ it, Gypsy?" he asked angrily, running a hand through his slightly messy hair in an agitated gesture - which was in total contrast to the cool look he had been wearing ever since they had both arrived at the common room.

Gypsy shrugged and looked towards the fire, saying nothing, her fingers stilled.

By now they were the only two left in the common room; even the seventh years had all headed off to bed. After a minute more of silence Gypsy sighed loudly and crawled across to where her brother was looking at her impatiently.

With an equally regretful sigh Cody relaxed and gave his twin sister a tight hug before letting her curl up at his side.

"Hey, its okay, you know?" he whispered into his sister's hair as she clung to his middle.

Gypsy snuffled at him, desperately trying to wipe her eyes before her brother noticed her tears. Unfortunately, it was already too late, and Cody gave her another half hug.

"I guess you just have to look at it objectively, yeah?"

"Objective? What objective?" Gypsy sniffed questioningly.

"Yeah – think about it. From Sebastian's perspective. Suddenly he's found himself in this strange world. He's ripped out of his home and away from his family, or what's left of us anyway, friends and basically the whole world he's ever known" Cody started off softly, but quickly warmed to his theme. Gypsy interrupted him –

"When you said objective, you said it like there was something positive about it all. That sentence didn't really run with the whole 'positive' theme, you know?"

"Well, I guess the positive bit is that, it's happened to him, not us" Cody said with a slight shrug.

"I mean – _we _could have been the ones slung into some strange reality, where nobody even knew we ever existed! Imagine us in _his _world! At least here they knew he existed once, but there _we_ never got the _chance _to exist!"

Gypsy rolled onto her back, resting her head in Cody's lap

"How sad for our other-selves" she said with a slight smile as she stared at the ceiling.

"Feeling sorry for yourself, are you? Going to start taking anti-depression potions next, are you?" Cody said, poking her in the stomach as if the teasing proved his point.

Gypsy shrugged, and smiled quietly, but the humour that had inflected her tone a few seconds ago was gone. She looked sad again, like there was something she'd lost, even though she never knew she'd had it.

"It's weird, you know? Sebastian being here… it makes me feel like someone I know has died, or something, even though he's actually _here" _

"Well, him being here is just a reminder that he has to leave again, when Dumbledore finds out how to work the potion. It's like; we're being reminded of what we've lost" Cody's voice broke slightly at the end of his sentence and Gypsy sat up quickly, blinking her eyes to avoid them tearing up.

She clambered off the sofa and retrieved the book she had been using before.

"I think I'm off to bed – all this depressing crap is twisting my brain. I just feel so sorry for him… you know? Yeah. Whatever. G'night Codestar!" she gave him a quick hug and headed towards the girls staircase.

Cody sighed to the empty common room and rubbed his eyes sleepily, wondering what his brother would be doing right now.

What a strange thought, he contemplated as he made his own way upstairs and started to get into bed; _brother._

* * *

At that very moment Harry was passed out in the girl's bathrooms, his head propped up against one of the unused porcelain sinks. His hand was covered in cuts and would-be bruises, and smudges of the red were on his cheeks and around his eyes. Dirty tear streaks made his face even bleaker, as pale track marks proved that anguish simply was not a strong enough word. 

Sitting on the sink next to him, and watching him, was Moaning Myrtle.

Harry slept all night and when he woke up the next morning he couldn't remember dreaming.

* * *

"Miss Zambini! A word, if you please?" Minerva McGonagall's voice cut through the tumble of students as they all rushed into the hall to eat quickly and speed off to their lessons on time. Blaise had already been sitting at the Ravenclaw table for some time, and rose quietly to follow the professor out into the entrance hall. 

"I'm sorry to ask this of you Blaise, but I waited for as long as I could to see if any of Sebastian's dorm mates would come down _before _class started" she paused and tutted to herself "but they have not appeared and I am very busy, so I am afraid that I must ask you a favour"

Blaise simply nodded.

"Mister Jamison was _supposed_ to report to me this morning for his schedule and a chat about his navigation of Hogwarts. _However_ he did not appear, and unfortunatly I do not have the _time_ to go chasing after errant students! So I would be eternally greatful if you might find him and deliver this to him" she handed over a white envelope which Blaise took with a silent nod.

"Thankyou Blaise, I know I can count on you" the Professor said with a tight smile. She gathered herself to go before pausing to look at Blaise speculativly.

"And if you don't mind me asking - how are you coping with Ms Granger's absence? You do know that if there is ever anything that you wish to talk about, my door is always open to you, don't you, Blaise?" Minerva asked softly, the sharp lines on her face softening enough to show Blaise that the offer was sincere.

Blaise nodded once more, but still said nothing.

"Right, very well then, I'll leave this to you. I hope you can find him before his first class of the day, but it not you are excused. I believe you both have Advanced Healing. But please, _do _try to be on time!" and without waiting for the answer Blaise was not going to give, she walked off towards the Transfiguration Corridor, her robes billowing in a similar fashion to professor Snape's.

Leaving, Blaise wondered why Minerva McGonagall had been the one to take a personal interest in Sebastian Jamison, and not his head of house; Professor Flitwick.

* * *

"Have any of you seen the new kid; Sebastian?" Blaise asked Terry Boot and the gang of sixth year students she bumped into them on her way to the Ravenclaw dorms. They all stopped and shook their heads, with vague murmers to the negative before continuing on their way to breakfast. Terry was the only one to stay behind. 

"I didn't think he'd moved into Hogwarts yet, he didn't come back to the dorm last night and it didn't look like his bed was slept in this morning, although that might have been the house elves. Are you sure he didn't just get to spend a last night with his folks?" he asked, obvious concern on his face. Blaise sighed and looked down at the envelope in her hand, an odd feeling in her stomach bringing a sting of forebodance.

Terry touched her arm lightly, and she looked up slowly, awoken from her thoughts.

"Well I have to find him before I get to class. Thanks for the help, Terry" Blaise nodded to him and started to walk away, mentally going over where and _why _Sebastian was wherever he was, but she was forced to stop and turn back around as Terry called her name. She cocked her head to the side and waited for him to speak.

"Listen, _do_ you need any help? I can try to find him with you, if you want?" he asked slightly shyly, causing Blaise to close her eyes breifly, embarassed. But she shook her head at his offer and showed him the pass McGonagall had written for her.

"I'm good. I've got special persmission from Professor McGonagall, so don't worry about it, Terry" she smiled at him, and he smiled in return, although slightly wistfully.

"Alright then, well have fun finding the new kid!" Terry said with a laugh, rose a hand in farewell and set off towards the Great Hall to catch up with his friends. Blaise watched him go sadly, wondering if things might have been different between then if Hermione hadn't...

_So where would a 'new kid' who's never been to Hogwarts before, ever,go to sleep for the whole, _entire_, night? _

_Why wouldn't he return to the dormitary? Unless he was lost._

_He must get lost, very, very easily._

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**A/N: **Wow and Golly. It's been a very long time since I thought of fanfiction! But I'm back, for a while at least, although I'm going to need some encouragment before I start writting this old thing again! (hehe) I hope everyone had a great Christmas break, I know I melted in the heat several times! (Hooray with Candy Cane's for Australian Summers! Hoorah!) Advice on this fic would be nice, and please, do point out any plot holes, as I can barely remember the plot as it is! ;D

But please: do **R**EVIEW!o.x

Enjoy the new year, dearlings:D


	8. Be my Pilot Light

**Disclaimer: **not mine. Don't own. Go eat hamster.

**A/N: **it hasn't been _so_ long since I last updated this fic, and a disappointing number of reviews has been my only response from the masses of readers that fanfiction hosts. I wasslasham disappointed. However, I do understand that last chapter was a pretty shitty one, and I promise that this one is a whole heap better… which means I'm expecting stacks of reviews! You find out about Hermione in this chapter too… lolly! Oh, don't you love a little 'mione-torture? XD

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**Chapter eight **

Taking the flame from the lantern (be my pilot light)

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_In someplace we might have forgotten about, but that certainly hasn't forgotten us…_

Neville Longbottom slipped down the wall that he was leaning against until he was slumped down on the floor, panting heavily. The cool press of the worn bricks soothed his beating heart, but not enough.

Ever since Harry had disappeared from potions, Neville had been having strange, strange dreams.

When he'd mentioned them to Ron, the red-head didn't seem to even hear him. When he'd spoken to Hermione about it, she'd suggested he was traumatized about the 'incident', and said maybe he should see Madame Pomfrey for some prescribed dreamless sleep potion. Ginny had been sympathetic, but distracted.

Luna had told him, in her misty voice that his spirit was wandering the ethereal plains, and until he figured out what was drawing him there, and resolved the problem, it would continue to happen. Neville hadn't really paid attention to her advice, because he didn't even know what an ethereal plain was, and he was willing to bet ten sickles that if he tried to find out it would be in the 'mythology' section of the library.

So Neville continued to have the nightmares.

Every night the same thestral greeted him, and every night Neville ran and ran while it chased after him, its dreadful cry carrying over the endless mist until it seemed to surround him.

Each morning he would wake exhausted, and each day it was getting worse and worse.

Not to mention Snape was after him, continuously deducting points for the instructions of a potion that Neville could barely remember making. Not to mention Harry had certainly helped as well, it hadn't been him alone!

But between everything, there _was_ a ray of hope. Neville couldn't help but notice that it almost seemed like he'd been working out: somehow, he was getting _fit_.

It didn't even occur to him that it was because he spent eight hours running every night.

* * *

_That place we're drawn to… that exists only in the minds of those who seek it…_

"Hey! You! Sebastian!" Blaise cried out to the dark haired boy, just as he turned the corner. The kid didn't pause, even though she was sure he must have heard her, and she broke out into a jog to catch up. She was a couple of metres behind him when he paused to smile at one of the students coming towards them, and she realized it wasn't the new boy at all.

She stood still, breathing hard, feeling strange.

"Were you calling me?" a soft voice spoke from just behind her, and she jumped, spinning around.

There stood Sebastian Jamison, one hand clasped firmly within the other one, his hair falling forward into his eyes. Somehow he seemed very different from the Sebastian whom had been introduced at the Start of Term Feast, just last night. His eyes, she noted, looked haunted, and for a moment she saw in him the same desperation she had felt when Hermione…

"Uh, yes, fine. McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor house, gave me an errand" she stated, mentally calming herself down. The somewhat surreal shock of him appearing, ghost-like, behind her had unbalanced her already tipping self-rhythm. But every small thing seemed to, now-days.

She held out the envelope that his schedule was in towards him, but he made no move to take it. After a few more seconds of waiting to see if he would accept it, she let her hand drop back to her side. Mentally though, she reeled back in confusion; why was he being so cruel? Didn't he know…? Why didn't the whole _world _know…?

She looked down, forcibly telling herself to get those tears out of her eyes.

She looked up through her hair when the new guy started to speak.

"I'm sorry. I've hurt my hand, it's still quite sore" he said, presumably by way of explanation. She shook her paranoia away and offered him a tight smile that truly only felt like plastic on her lips. Opposite her, Sebastian's returning quirk of the lips looked just as bitter. She didn't ask.

"Well I think that it's about your time-table. Uhm… here…" she held the timetable back up, towards the hand that didn't seem to be injured. She wondered distantly what he'd done to it, and that interest sharpened suddenly when she noticed red marks seeping through the temporary bandage.

"What the hell…?" she muttered, and forgetting herself for just a moment, made a grab for his hand. Harry moved back, but wasn't fast enough to prevent her from latching onto him. Feeling a rising panic, Harry struggled away from her, wincing in pain as her hand tightened around the still bloody cuts in his hands.

There was a shout from down the corridor and in a few seconds later they were being pulled apart. In the confusion, the bandages around Sebastian's hands had loosened and the fresh scars were exposed, much to the shock of both Blaise and the fourth year who had pulled them apart.

"Christ! How'd you get _those?_ They look like they _hurt_!" the fourth year exclaimed, eyes flicking confusedly between the heavily breathing Sebastian and the astonished Blaise, who had taken a guilty step backwards at the sight of the angry wounds.

"Hey, uhm, you didn't do that, did you Zabini?" the fourth year asked nervously. Blaise's eyes widened at the accusation, but before she could deny it, Sebastian had stepped in.

"No, mate. I had an accident before, and uhm… Zabini…? just startled me is all" he said softly, already in the process of wrapping his arm back up, with the same dirty rag of shirt he'd been using before. Blaise twitched slightly at the unhygienic action, but said nothing. The fourth year, who Blaise remembered to be Callum from Slytherin, looked slightly dubious. With a final glance at the two of them he clearly dismissed the issue from his mind and glanced at his watch.

"Yeah, well, whatever. Just don't fight too much, I heard Snape's in the foulest mood. Complaining about Gypsy Potter again, I think. Whatever. Be Aware folks!" and he threw them a salute and cheerily swaggered off, throwing the suggestion that Sebastian should see Madame Pomfrey over his should just before he rounded the corner.

"You really _should_ go and get her to heal those cuts, you know. They could get infected and that tends to hurt" Blaise said earnestly, the envelope she had originally been asked to give Sebastian lying, unnoticed on the stone floor.

Harry glanced at his hand, bemused, seemingly not noticing any pain at all.

"Oh, I don't think I'll trouble her" he murmured distractedly instead, then rising his eyes to look at her curiously. Blaise blushed under his scrutiny. He looked back at her amusedly, the distance in his eyes telling her he wasn't really seeing Blaise at all.

"So… how did you get them?" she asked suddenly, before she lost the courage. Sebastian blinked in surprise, her bluntness (something that she would usually never fall victim to!) seemed to disconcert him for a moment, and he _almost_ answered.

He wavered at the last second though, and turned to look into the shadows of the hallway, avoiding her eyes.

"Had an accident with a mirror" speaking in half-truths was his talent.

Blaise paused to gather her thoughts; her interest in this new student was the first emotion other than despair that she'd experienced in quite a while. Something about him had piqued her senses, normally so attuned, and she was reluctant to get on his bad side.

She could do with a friend.

"Well…" she started, but trailed off as she realized she still had nothing to say.

Sebastian continued to look at her thoughtfully. The muscles on his face contracted slightly as he frowned to himself, clearly making up his mind about something, possibly against his better judgment.

"Listen, I was talking to my cousin yesterday. I met a girl a couple of years back, called Hermione" Sebastian said quickly, watching her face carefully so as to gauge her reaction. He hesitated as he saw Blaise convulsively bite her lip at the mention of his friend's name, but continued doggedly nonetheless.

"She told me she went to Hogwarts and I guess I kind of thought she'd be here. But I talked to the twins and they told me an awful story. And I know they wouldn't lie to me, but maybe you understand what it's like to not know the whole story about someone you care about. They told me that you were her friend, and I guess I'm wondering if maybe you could tell me what happened, because they weren't close with her and they said that you'd probably know more than they - " Sebastian came to an abrupt stop as he realized that he had been rambling, and sighed sharply, all the energy flowing from his tensed form. Blaise observed through detached eyes as he took several calming breathes, she was mentally wondering why she hadn't already stepped back and simply walked away as she had done countless times when confronted with the conundrum of emotions dealing with Hermione.

She looked away from him.

"I'm not sure how you think it is I can help you" she said coldly. After a few seconds of silence, during which Sebastian deflated even more, she brushed him aside and marched down the corridor, a swirl of conflicting emotions.

* * *

It was two days later, during which Harry _did _talk to Madame Pomfrey to get his hand healed, that Blaise approached him. 

He had almost given up hope for hearing her side of the story. Dumbledore had informed him that it wasn't his information to give while Cody and Gypsy had remained sympathetically clueless.

The stories circulating around the school could, obviously, not be relied upon as great sources of truthful information. Therefore the only _real_ way he could gain a clear and unbiased understanding of what had happened to one of his oldest friends (although there were some interesting paradoxes relating to the whole 'alternate dimension' thing, he still considered Hermione of whichever world, his (potential) friend).

Cody, upon discovering his battered hand (it had been his brother who had finally pestered him enough to seek help for the _still _bleeding hand) had nonetheless understood the cause for it. For the first time in his life, Harry had experienced loving care as only a fussing, overprotective family can provide.

Still, it was his need to find out what had happened that drove him out to the lake the following Thursday. Sitting across from a nervous and slightly wobbly Blaise, skimming pebbles over the surface of the calm lake after classes, it was almost easy to forget the reason he had come.

Of course, that changed once Blaise began to speak, already assuming that he knew the basic story (which he did).

"I went to see her, of course. I mean, she was my best friend and it's not so easy to just forget all that, and I guess that I thought the same would be true for her too. I thought they were lying; that there was something else they weren't telling me…" Blaise trailed off, and threw another pebble into the lake; it made an angry splash far out.

Harry toyed with the pebble he had in his own fingers, shifting it from hand to hand thoughtfully. A whisper of melancholy drew across his face as he leant against the old oak, his head propped up by a knot of gnarling wood.

"I know this story doesn't have a happy ending Blaise, don't try to protect _me _from anything. It doesn't work _that_ way, I'm afraid." He said softly, before slipping the rock in his hands into one of his pockets.

It was a few minutes before Blaise resumed her story.

"She... we… I had this dream, the day that it happened. It was… terrifying. It really scared me, and I called her up, because I was afraid that something had happened to her… the dream was just so real. But I called her, and she answered and she said she was fine. She thought it was really funny, because she said she'd had a nightmare as well, but that she'd gone and had some hot milk and honey and she'd calmed down. My call had woken her up.

I was still feeling a bit scared, like when you're a little kid, and even once the nightmares over, it feels like it's somehow still going. I don't know how to describe it, really, but she said she was okay and that everything was fine, and then she hung up, and I went back to sleep." Blaise stopped to suppress a sob, and rein her voice back into control.

Harry could feel his own heart beating like lead in his chest, the thumps coming at what seemed agonizing minutes apart.

"I had the same dream. Only this time it _really _wasn't like a dream. It was like a vision, and I was Hermione. They broke into the house, and I'd still been awake from my call with… me… and then I'd been so scared, because I'd known that they were there for me. My parents… woke up… and started shouting things and I could hear them and I knew that I couldn't save them. I went to the window, and I climbed out, I cast a spell on myself so I could fly a short distance, but they were behind me, and they blow the door open" Blaise's voice twisted with tears and anguish as she choked up. Harry's own eyes clouded over and he clenched his hands by his sides.

"They are behind her, and she jumps out, but they hit her. And then she's falling and I'm going up, and she hits the ground… and I wake up. When I had that dream… I knew what had happened. I went to Dumbledore, and he got his little group together, and they found her. She was on the grass, where she fell, that's what Dumbledore told me. They took her to St Mungos, but it was too late. Of course, you know how it is; it's _always _too late."

There was silence while Harry continued to dig a hole with a stick. Blaise tore apart a blade of grass absently, barely noticing as the messy cut up pieces fell to the dirt at her feet.

Harry sighed deeply, then sucked in his breath in preparation for speech.

"What happened next, I think I know. Hermione went to St Mungos" he started monotonously, eyes not seeing as he jabbed fiercely at the ground "she remained in a coma for eight weeks with an unknown mental state, un-diagnosable by the mediwitches. Her parents were dead; she had no immediate family, very few friends. After fifty-seven days of oblivion she woke up, and was visited by Professor Dumbledore almost immediately. Her now conscious state allowed the healers to assess her mental state, and they found her wanting. She had severe memory loss and was unlikely to ever recover any of her memories, let alone a full recollection of what happened that night. She didn't remember magic, or witches or wizards, or you. She had created, within her mind, an escape wherein her mind had taken refuge. She didn't remember, and she still hasn't." Harry trailed off, the feeling of angst encroaching his heart until he felt sick.

Blaise didn't look surprised at how much he knew – after all, the story had been abuzz around the school for the first couple of weeks Hermione was in the coma, and then again after she had awoken, mindless.

But it _had_ crossed her mind to wonder _why _he cared. Why he had gone to all the trouble of trying to find out about one fifth grade girl who would never make her sixth year? He may be related to two of the most sticky-nosed people in the school, but the topic of Death Eater attacks was treated with caution, even by the twins.

Actually… who _was_ Sebastian Jamison that he thought he had the right to care so much for Hermione? A girl whom he had met once, never had any opportunity to become real friends with her. It was Blaise who had befriended the shy muggle-born on their very first train ride, _Blaise_ who had been petrified in their second year when the reincarnation, or something, of Tom Riddle had tried to awaken a basilisk. It was _Blaise_ who had jumped in front of that spell, intended for Hermione in third year - _Blaise_ who had sent a ferocious cutting curse at Neville when he made Hermione cry in fourth. _Blaise_ who had urged Hermione on to ask Hector out – even though the Ravenclaw chaser had turned her down – It was _Blaise_ who had been there when Hermione cried, laughed and screamed her frustrations with the world.

Without a further word to Sebastian, inwardly wondering at her own gullibility and recklessness in telling him her side of the story, she clambered up and half ran, half stumbled back up to the castle, not caring what he thought about her.

Harry eyes startled up when Blaise jumped and off, but he wasn't seeing her leave. He saw Hermione's agonized face as she realized she was late for a lesson, running ahead of Ron and him to excuse the teacher and start her writing as soon as possible. Seeing the way she couldn't stop laughing hysterically once two in the morning had passed, and she had stayed up to help the boys finish their assignment.

There was so much life.

He knew, of course, what it was he had to do. One simply couldn't abandon their friends just because they'd been thrown into an alternate reality. It just wasn't fair – he had to go and see her. His Hermione, who wasn't his Hermione.

The girl who may have looked like Hermione, may have sounded and spoken like Hermione, but who was just the shell for the brilliant witch he had been friends with since his first year. And now, less than a shell. A shell whose memory had been stripped and whose mind raped.

The twig in his limp hands snapped suddenly, no match for his unfocused, unhappy, unconsidered magic. He quickly refocused his eyes, regarding with interest the splinters imbedded in the earth. They spelled out a word, plain as day.

But why then, he questioned all the magic inside him, the pain that this is all causing?

Naturally, there was no reply.

* * *

**A/N: **I have **totally** lost track of **all** my characters (eg I can't remember if Draco was going to be nice or mean or even exist at all. I'm not sure if I've mentioned him and if I have then was it in the context I now intend for him to be seen? Will I have to redo that chapter – if it exists – or simply change my current plans? Etc. I am in pain.), and for some reason, I can't stop trying (note: operative word) to draw Blaise. o.O 

Yes, I am bizarre. But even MORE awesome than my bizarre-ness is the cool piece of trivia that I now have but two years of that awful thing called school (pfaaa!) left! Yes, meh'peeps! It is true! I'm year eleven now and teachers have been THROWING work at me – thus I have produced a spiffy long chapter for y'all and happily ignored them!

SO IS THE NATURE OF THE PROCRASTINATOR! HAIL ME ALL!

….

This was a boring chapter. I wanted to get the Hermione thing over and done with because I've been putting it off for long enough. (Gosh, try almost a YEAR now! xX) But I figured: be strong and ye shall prevail. So I fought of bravely and tada! An incredibly boring, but nonetheless (I sure use that word a LOT) necessary chapter. Interaction with Hermione coming up NEXT! Also, opinions of pairing will be appreciated. I must warn you: I am currently planning on making this pairing-less on account of the way it will all finish would be very awkward if Harry had some soul-mate he had to carry off with him… (giving it away some, ai?) Weeeellll…

…Yeah. Love yous. Review. + nice day!

3

(Oh, byz the way – the weird introductions in Italics for the different dimension flippos? Yeah, the weird ones that made you go 'wah?' – you can ignore them. Result of some kinda drug that I'm sure I was slipped… all I need is evidence! ;D)


	9. Freedom to our Press!

**Disclaimer: **not mine. Don't own. Go do… something.

**A/N: **Wow, I've finished most of those nasty assessments I was telling you all about… naturally the teachers have decided to show just how much they _love_ us and rewarding us with a heap more. I guess they don't want us to get bored. Or they're sadistic. Either/or.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter nine **

Freedom to Our Press! (Let me in)

* * *

"I'm sorry sir, but you really can't see Ms Granger right now. She was quite distressed last time she had a visitor, and over that of course, visiting hours are over"

Harry didn't say anything for a moment, in favor of looking the healer straight in the eye. After a few seconds she seemed a little unnerved by his intense green stare, and he looked away.

"Ma'am, I would really appreciate it if you could let me in to see her. Naturally I understand your concern" Harry made a conciliatory gesture at the instant apologizing look that crossed the nurse's face, as she realized he was going to argue "But I can assure you, I'd never met Ms Granger even before the incident, and if you're worried about that then please don't be. You could say that I've been sent to help her"

The nurse, whose nametag proclaimed her 'Merry', did not look like she was buying it. She crossed her arms and gave him a look that showed she didn't believe a word he was saying.

"Sir, I can't honestly say that Ms Granger has had many visitors, but the ones she has had have all, without fail, caused her sever stress. People questioning her about her memories, clearly distresses her, as she is unable to access them" the nurse frowned at him, but it was in such a way Harry could see that she wasn't really angry. She seemed, he thought, as he mentally drew up his argument, the type of person who liked to help other people.

He was jostled up against the wall when a group of people went speeding past, a levitated body suspended between them. Harry followed their progress down the hall, as did the nurse, with a concerned look. The interruption reminded him that he was in a hospital, although he had hardly forgotten.

He turned back to the nurse, who was smiling patiently up at him (she really was very small). He decided that directness was the way to go

"I need to see Hermione. I swear I won't talk to her about knowing her before she was shot" a contorted look of denial flashed, and he wondered what the story about her disappearance was "I'm here because I can help her" _(a slight lie, but not really that far from the truth. I can help her. I will help her!)_

The nurse sighed heavily, a look of exasperated defeat settling over her face.

"Mister Jamison. I will be blunt. I have been specifically asked not to allow Hermione to meet with any of her previous school friends by her guardians. As you will understand it is _not _up to me on whether or not to allow you entrance – as her guardians they do have the legal _and moral_ right to censor her visitors. I'm sorry! But I can't let you see her!" she turned to go and Harry could clearly see that there was no point in arguing further: she was not going to budge.

But as she walked away, the look on Harry's face was one of intense concentration; as though he was trying to remember something important.

* * *

He figured out what had been bothering him at the hospital that night.

It was Sunday, and there were a few people up in the common room, cramming the homework they had been assigned and put off till the last minute. Harry was sitting in a corner, his feet up on one of the study desks supplied in the Ravenclaw common room.

_Hermione's parents are dead_.

The next day Harry ignored all of his teachers in favor of scribbling down ideas. He was called up four times in four different classes for his lack of attention, and lost a total of 23 points for Ravenclaw.

The other Ravenclaw boys laughed at him, and he didn't see Cody or Gypsy until lunch. Even then it was a brief hello as he headed off to a lesser known courtyard to try and puzzle things out.

Blaise was not talking to him and although his new room mates were trying to make him welcome, really; there was no place for him. They'd started Hogwarts together and they'd slogged through classes together for the past six years. It wasn't anything personal: they just needed to get used to him before he was 'one of them'.

And anyway, it was partly Harry's fault; he could have sped up the process, if he'd been in a better mood.

But he had other things on his mind.

It took him the rest of Monday night to mind-map (very messily) his 'plan'.

By Tuesday, he was ready to talk to his sister and brother.

* * *

"You want to make a school newspaper?" Gypsy asked doubtfully, her hazel eyes crinkling in confusion "where'd that come from, all out of the blue?" she questioned him, clearly confused.

Sebastian gave her a look.

"I want freedom to the press! Just _this_ time, instead of being the hunted I have every intention of being the… huntee" he winked at them both "haven't you ever noticed that the press seem to have all sorts of interesting advantages – like getting into places normal people are strictly banned from. What do you think?" he asked again, a grin flashing across his lips as seemingly endless possibilities twinkled like stars in Cody and Gypsy's eyes.

Harry's grin widened as he imagined what the twins could be thinking of. He barely needed to continue his sales pitch, but he felt that he may as well, if only to bring them back down to earth and the _real _point in starting a student's paper.

"Thus we would have access to important events, but also the ability to report them objectively and without bias – presenting a truthful account of the situation for Hogwarts students and Professors alike!" he finished with a flourish, which Cody and Gypsy jumped up to mimic grandly, clearly agreeing to the idea.

"Pure genius Sebastian!" cried Gypsy dramatically, clearly intent on making a big of a scene as she could. Cody followed his sister's lead with equally loud praise.

"Wonderful! Simply inspired!"

Sebastian ducked his head so he didn't have to make eye-contact with the students who looked over to see what the commotion was about. But he was smiling.

"I've already had a chat with Dumbledore about it, and he thought it was a great idea. Even said he'd make 'press passes' for anyone involved" they all three made faces at the prospect of Dumbledore designed passes "I even asked about special permission to leave school grounds to attend functions and all that, and he said as long as it was okay with our teachers, and only the students fifteen and up mind, we have it!" Sebastian said, scrunching up his face into a smile for his two siblings.

Cody and Gypsy were looking at him like he was an icon from the heavens.

"You managed to get him to agree to that? How the hell did you do it?" Gypsy asked him, still looking as though she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. Cody was making complicated gestures of thanks to, in what Harry assumed to be, a prayer to the heavens.

Harry suppressed the smile that was tugging up at his lips; he knew the two of them were acting more outrageously than ever because they were trying to cheer him up.

After exchanging a few more jokes and much more praise, the three split, with Harry intent on Professor Flitwick's office, and the twins on their way to track down a friend of theirs who, they claimed, could actually write.

* * *

After a few days of chatting to people and discretely spreading the word, they found six or seven students who were all quite interested in the idea. They organized a meeting for the next Friday afternoon. Of the volunteers three were muggle-born, three half-blood and there was one twelve-year old pure-blood who claimed he was there to make sure 'their side of the story was heard'.

"So, what kind of things do you think we should be covering?" Cody started once the meeting had been called to order, and everyone introduced. He was sitting next to Harry and nudged the older boy immediately.

"Sebastian, do you have any suggestions?"

Looking at the curious faces of the students Harry felt an odd moment of stage-fright, before it passed, and he hauled himself to his feet.

"I want to cover the Granger story. I'm sure you've all heard about it, and probably heard the rumors that went round when it first happened, too. But I want to find out what really happened. I heard she was attacked by death eaters in her home" he stopped, obviously waiting for any one else to contribute.

The others all looked at him in surprise. There had been an unspoken taboo within the whole school about the 'attack' on Hermione Granger. It was something that people didn't talk about too openly, something that was avoided.

Why that was, Harry had yet to determine. It seemed to him that the students and teachers saw the mysterious, and seemingly random, attack on the muggle-born girl as a 'sign'. Again, he had yet to discover what that sign might be, but he knew enough about wizard mentality to know it likely wasn't a sign of sunshine and lollipops.

Surprisingly it was Rutherford; or Ford as he had promptly told them they would call him, who spoke up first. The little Slytherin twelve-year old coughed slightly to break the rising tension and stood up, mimicking Harry's earlier actions, although in a rather more grandiose way.

"She lost her memory. One of my mother's friend's husbands was on the cover up case" he paused as there was a swell of surprised muttering from the muggleborns, wondering what they had been covering up. After a haughty glare, Ford continued.

"Apparently there was more to it than a simple random attack. The death eaters had targeted her specifically; they think it had something to do with the research she was doing" he paused again, but this time there was absolute silence as everyone waited for him to continue. He looked mildly pensive and frowned to himself.

"I _do_ remember her mentioning a personal assignment she had, but really she didn't speak about herself much" seeing the looks the others in the room were shooting him, he sighed gustily and rolled his eyes, looking as though he thought they were all fools "she was my _tutor_"

There was more silence in the room as he sat down, everyone was contemplating the mystery that had suddenly been thrown into their midst. Cody and Gypsy were looking stunned, and even Harry seemed slightly shocked. Honestly though, he wouldn't put it past Hermione to be doing some kind of research that the death eaters would find a threat to them.

One of the muggleborns whose name he remembered to be Henry stood up, and looked around, waiting until he had everyone's attention.

"Look, Hermione was a really nice person and I guess you can ask anyone who she tutored or who she knew, but what could she possibly have been _doing _to warrant that kind of violent attack! They tried to kill her didn't they?" he glanced over to Ford, who frowned at him.

"It's unclear. I _hardly_ need to point out that Granger is still alive. Usually when they try to kill someone, they _do _tend to succeed" he drawled, making casual reference to the hundreds of people who had died in the first stage of the war, looking for all the world as though he didn't care in the least that they were discussing the murder of so many innocents.

Henry looked slightly confused, but returned to the point he had been trying to make.

"Well, yeah. They obviously didn't want her continuing doing whatever it was she was doing. Think about it guys! Whatever it was must be, well, important! So really, what the big story behind all this is; is the research she was doing. I mean, obviously the attack is pretty important, but what people are going to want to hear about is _why _she was attacked. I don't think I'm making much sense, but hopefully you get the idea?" he finished, looking flustered.

The whole table had looks of agreement on their faces, and Henry smiled in relief that they had understood what he was trying to say, before sitting down with a thump, clearly embarrassed.

They continued talking about Hermione for a while, and Sebastian sat back in his chair; a bubble of contentment rising inside him. It was clear that the attack on his friend had been even more significant than he had first thought, and that fact had spurred the interest of the people who, in only a few days, would have the ability and resources to track down the answer (and in the name of justice too!)

He was brought out of his musings by a jab in the ribs from Cody, and the conversation turned towards the more trivial aspects of running a paper (although he was worried they might _seem _trivial, but it looked like his spare time had just been stolen). There was a quick debate about whether they should have a 'gossip' column (which Gypsy wanted to head), speculation about a sports section, shy proposition for a muggle-born introduction article and then a suggestion for some kind of comic (which they all thought would be great, but since none of them could draw to save their lives decided would be postponed until they could find someone appropriate to fit the job).

Once they had come up with a general plan for their first edition (the Granger story would _not _be in it – they wanted to make the story 'big' and to do that they needed more time) they agreed to meet again in three days and bring the work that they had claimed as their own.

As Harry walked slightly behind his siblings, who were both excited about the meeting, a question floated innocently into his mind, coming from Dumbledore's twinkling agreement and permission for his request:

Just how much it was that Dumbledore knew, anyway?

* * *

**A/N: **Hmm – again nothing much happened. Well. Next chapter is more interesting… (Although I always seem to be promising that and nothing much ever actually happens…BUT IT WILL!)

In answer to someone's question in regards to Harry's hand – what happened to it? Easy – he was so angry/sad that he hit a mirror in the bathroom and it shattered. Poor Harry. Just his luck?

Happy day everyone!

:D


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